Are you playing yourself in tune? ----Originally published 10/6/11

You may be living the blues, or any other songs in the key of life, but are you playing yourself in tune?

When I was a young man I wanted to be the greatest guitar player that ever lived. I was inspired. I worked and worked, practiced and practiced. I became a damn good guitar player, however, somewhere along the way, my aspirations changed. I decided that what was really important was for me to be the best musician I could be. Later, after going a long way towards accomplishing that, I realized that what was really important, paramount, was always playing myself in tune...

This could be a metaphor for life, and indeed follows the journey of many people. When we are young and first experiencing the power of our adult selves and the possibilities available to us, we are often inspired to greatness by people who move us, who engage our souls with the level of expertise they exhibit. Guitar player Duane Allman was my insiration. I had been playing guitar for about four years before I heard him, mostly playing accoustic guitar, three chord stuff with an E minor or an A minor thrown in occassionally... small blast. But the first time heard Duane play, something happened to me inside, I was changed forever! I HAD to learn to do that, to be able to make that sound. Years later, when I could "wail" on most Allman Brothers' songs, I realized that there had already been one Duane Allman, and the local wedding band didn't need someone to play "Whipping Post" note for note. They needed an all-around good musician, someone capable of playing "Wave" during dinner, playing the favorite song of the new couple, along with "the bride cuts the cake," the "Hokie Pokie," and still have the chops to rev it up a la Chuck Berry, when everyone let their hair down... Wedding bands wanted well rounded musicians, players who could read charts, maybe write charts and be able to learn on the fly, to improvise and sometimes even fake whatever was needed. I decided to be the best musician I could be...

After many years of gigging night in and night out, every weekend, every New Year's, and after talking to countless people from the audience, I realized that the musicians were no more special than anyone else. EVERYBODY in the audience was applying themselves to something that moved them, something that inspired them. People would contantly say, "Oh, you're SO talented!" but that was simply their culture speaking through them. We happen to live during a period where people value music as a source of inspiration, but I was no better than the person volunteering at a homeless shelter, making a living as a plumber, or raising a child with special needs. Through these people, I started to realize that playing oneself in tune, no matter what was one's inspiration or chosen field, was what was important.

LOVE, kindness, compassion, humility, empathy...now we're talking. I learned that playing myself in tune taught me how to live a life worth living, that through finding opportunities to give others the experiences I longed for, I actually experienced them as well! I learned to BE of service, and how loving and close I feel to my fellow man when I'm doing so. I learned that everything I gave, came back to me many times over. I learned to BE grateful for simply living, and that bliss was available to me every moment if I could stop judging. Better than playing great guitar, huh?

Today, find your inspiration, or look at the one you have, and see how the inspiration, and not the act, can BE applied to your life and the lives of others. Play YOURSELF in tune, in a manner that lifts the spirits of all those surrounding you. Inspire them to BE their best selves, to play themselves in tune, and help them find a life worth living...

Duffy

Happiness and unhappiness are in fact one...

Happiness and unhappiness are in fact one. Only the illusion of time separates them... (Tolle)

WE create happiness. It is not caused by something "out there." WE also create unhappiness. It is not the result of anything "out there" either.

I can hear you groaning already, "I've heard all this 'New Age' stuff before, blah, blah, blah..." You are resistant to this, because you don't want it to be true. Why? Because if this is true then you are responsible for your unhappiness, and you don't want that. You want to be able to blame something outside of yourself. "All right," I hear you say, "how it it my responsibility?!"

It begins with YOUR judgment. When you experience a "form" you judge to be GOOD, whether it be an experience, a possession, a relationship, a place, an opinion, etc., your mind attaches itself to it, and identifies with it. What you judge as GOOD, makes you feel "happy," makes you feel good about yourself, and you make it part of yourself, and as how things are supposed to be. A young boy who finds himself very good at being the high school quarterback attaches that GOOD feeling about himself. It becomes his identity. When he is not able to continue being the object of attention later in life, when the identity disappears, he beomes unhappy. The situation (form) that once made him happy, now makes him unhappy.

When whatever form the mind has attached itself to and identified with changes, your mind cannot accept it. It resists this. It clings mightily to the form which provided so much happiness, and now experiences unhappiness. So indeed, happiness and unhappiness are in fact one. Only the illusion of time separates them... (Tolle)

Change is the fuel of growth. "All things must pass," as the late George Harrison said. If you cling to forms, and resist change, you will suffer. Unhappiness will be your companion. The sad part is you will blame the change as the cause of your unhappiness. In fact, it is your identification with a "form" that your mind/Ego has attached itself to that is the culprit. Once again, you don't want this to be true, and your Ego will fight you tooth and nail to maintain control. Your Ego/mind wants to frame the discussion in a way that removes YOU from any responsibility.

Today, BEgin to realize that it is YOUR judgements, that turn into attachments and identities, that are causing your happiness/unhappiness. Stop labelling things as good or bad. Nothing is intrinsically good or bad,  YOU are the cause of them being good or bad. BEgin to offer no resistance to life. This is the true state of "grace," a state where the condition of your BEing no longer relies on things being a certain way, good or bad...

Duffy

I must give credit to Eckhart Tolle for his infinte wisdom. If you would like a greater understanding of the principles in this post, read his "The Power of Now."

Leave a space for grace around your reactions...

Observe yourself in all of your interactions. Leave a space for grace around your reactions. Simply the knowing will dissolve your attachments...

Who you think you are is actually a composite of what your family thinks of you, what your friends think of you, your co-workers, what your career says about you, your income, your reputation, etc. None of these is actually you, and the composite isn't either. They are identities that you have adopted. This does not mean they are not powerful. If you live in a western society, you have been indoctrinated all of your life to see things from this perspective. Indeed, you have probably never been exposed to a different viewpoint!

There is a YOU behind your physical form. The spiritual BEing that is the real YOU happens to be currently manifested in your physical self, but it's a physical self you will someday leave behind. Look at a dead body and you can clearly see that the once spiritual SELF is no longer there.

What is the experience of identifying with your physical form? You think your thinking mind is you. Your memories and emotional attachments control your reality. Your Ego runs the show...

Because of this, most humans live in pain. At the level of thought you experience judgement. At the level of emotion you experience negativity. Together these color your present with pain. The intensity of your pain is directly associated with your resistance to actual reality. To avoid this pain you look to the future. You want to deny the present and escape from it.

This strategy is most apparent in romantic relationships. Resentment, self-pity, jealousy, depression, victimization, irritation, annoyance and anger are all forms of pain. As long as you are identified with your physical form, your mind, this pain is inevitable. We seek "highs" to escape it, alcohol, drugs, sex, extreme sports, and especially romantic love. The pleasure associated with these escapes become addicitions. However the high experienced through an addiction always turns to a low eventually.

Romantic love has no cultural negativity associated with it. Everyone wants it, in fact most people can't enjoy life if they don't have it. They seek it ceaselessly like they are dying for the thirst of it. However, if they are living an unconscious existence, identified with the physical self, they are bringing their pain and their need to escape the present with them into the relationship. For a time the other person "fulfills all of their desires." In actuality the other person is simply distracting them from their pain. This is when the couple is "in love."

Eventually the other person can no longer live up to your expectations and you begin to experience your pain again. This is when you say your beloved "has really changed." You can't accept that you are simply back in your pain, so your Ego needs to find fault outside of you. Since the person that was providing you with a distraction from your pain is now failing to do so, you experience hostility to them. You attact them emotionally, passively and/or aggressively. You withold affection. You withold encouragement. You blame them, belittle them, berate them. Sometimes this escalates to physical violence...

What to do? You must BEcome Conscious. You must BEgin to shed identities with your physical form. Meditation is the best way to get there, but BEgin with BEcoming the observer of yourself. Instead of reacting immediately to something that happens, try to find the gap between perception and reaction. Watch yourself reacting. Give yourself a little space around it. You may not be able initially to prevent a reaction, but the space will provide you with a knowing that you are having one. Simply the knowing is enough to dissolve it at least partially. Simply seeing yourself attached to the outcome, will be enough to lessen your pain and eventually, with enough practice, you may BE able to let it go entirely...

Today, BEgin to watch yourself as if you were a third person, because that is actually what you are unconsciously doing through your identification. Observe yourself reacting. Practice this. Notice even when something happens and catches you jumping right in before you can stop. Observe yourself in all of your interactions. Leave a "space for grace" around your reactions. Simply the knowing will dissolve your attachments...

Duffy

If you don't know here...

If you don't know here, how can you possibly know there?

You can't have light without dark, and you can't have dark without light, a television artist used to repeat over and over. One day I realized he wasn't only talking about oil paintings. His mantra could be applied to many conditions, feelings and events. You can't understand Joy without sadness. Peace is known best to those that have experienced the ravages of war. Fresh air smells sweetest to those living in an overcrowded, polluted city. These are general concepts I agree, but the principle is the same down at the individual level. For instance, you only recognize your own vocabulary is deficient when you experience someone whose speech froths over with linguistic delights! You'd never know your mother's meatloaf was awful until you tasted some truly exquisite faire, and so it goes...

Taken to the next extreme, we have people who sadly rely on their prejudices to make comparisons. "Those people aren't poor, they have cell phones!" is a common refrain, completely ignoring the fact that those same people don't have health-care, or access to quality education... Poverty can't be imagined. It only "is" when actually experienced in relation to wealth. Prejudices, judgements, hatreds, idientities are all concepts that are applied in place of BEing. These are taught to be replacements for actual knowing.

In this vein, most people are trying to get somewhere else, without knowing where they are. They don't know where they are because they don't know who they are. They don't know who is experiencing "here." They are so distracted by their "to do" list, their identities and their personal story, that they have zero experience simply BEing. Since they don't know themselves, having never spent anytime BEing, they feel a constant unease, and try to ease it through the distractions and gratifications they constantly seek. They believe happiness is just around the corner in a better relationship, a better job, a better house, car, TV, etc. They are endlessly in search of "there."

The truth is there is no "there," only "here."

How do we BEgin to know "here?" The first step is to find a way to shut off the thinking mind. For most people, a continous cacophony of thoughts stream endlessly by. There is no recognizable gap between one and the next. Your thinking mind is screaming at you all day. Living in this state doesn't allow for any BEing, as all of your mind is used up thinking. Your thinking mind is a wonderful tool as a problem solver, but when the problem is solved, you must put it back in your tool box, and get on with BEing!

Have you ever experienced when you lost time while doing an activity, when you looked up and realized that an hour or so had gone by? That hour was spent BEing, flowing right along with the river of life, no seeking something else, no unease, as you were "here." You were experiencing mindfulness. Now, I understand you can't spend all day engaged in an activites that cause you to lose time, you have many responsibilities that need tending, BUT you can learn to bring that mindfulness to every minute of your day. Imagine how your focus would be improved if you weren't thinking of how much left you had on your "to do" list, while in a meeting, or during any other interaction?

Meditation is a proven way to mindfulness. There are many kinds of meditation, including prayer, chanting and affirmations. For most, simply find a quiet spot, sit upright with eyes closed, focus on your breathing, focus on how it feels to inhabit your body from the inside. When thoughts present themselves let them float by, notice them, but don't think about them, don't judge them. BEcome the observer, the watcher of yourself... BEcome aware there is a YOU behind your thoughts. This AWARENESS is the BEginning of mindfulness. After 15 minutes or so, open your eyes, and go about your day. Try to bring the awareness with you. For most people new to meditiation, the awareness will disappear with their first distraction. This is fine and normal. What is important is you experienced awareness and now you know it. Everytime you meditate, you will be able to keep that awareness a little longer. Soon it will BEgin to return to you whenever distractions end. You will BEgin to BEcome the watcher periodically throughout the day. Someday, if you keep practicing, most of your day will BE experienced from a state of aware mindfulness. Yes, when a problem arises, you will take your thinking mind out of the toolbox and put it to good use, but it won't be running the show, and the watcher will know to put it away when the task is completed...

Today, notice when you lose time, recognize how at ease you were during this time. BEgin to observe yourself going through your day. Watch when your thoughts are running out of control. Meditate. Learn to be "here." If you don't know here, how can you possibly know there really is no "there?"

Duffy

A flower lives among weeds without Ego...

A flower lives among weeds without Ego. It presents the opportunity for a brighter existence merely through its BEing...

Many who are walking the path to enlightenment falter from time to time. There are patches where it seems to be one step forward and two steps back. Obviously, faltering is an umbrella term that can be applied to a number of causes. In particular, I am referring to the frustration a traveler occasionally feels when faced with so many travelling the opposite way.

We all wander off the path now and again, but the focused traveler quickly realizes he/she has strayed, consults his/her compass and corrects. What troubles the focused pilgrim, is the number of people who have wandered off the path, who don't know how to read the compass, don't want assistance or are afraid to even examine the reality that they are lost. Their North Star is permanently obscured by clouds.

As one moves along the "Path," one's existence is more and more one surrounded by the glow of LOVE, JOY and PEACE. Life becomes so incredibly joyous and happy, that one wants to share this with everyone. A toddler will run to help an adult pick up something the adult has dropped. It is in our DNA to help, aid and assist each other. However, through a life time of Ego and cultural indoctrination many begin to see aid as something that should only be parcelled out to the deserving. Who is deserving? Those who your Ego JUDGES to be worthy, and those who benefit you, the individual, through your association. This association leads to separatism, which feeds the Ego. Association with the perceived "IN" group results in an Ego bath of superiority. The Ego relishes this and will increasingly think/say/do anything promoted by the group as long as it continues to be rewarded with membership. Eventually, things like lynchings, or the Irish potato famine, result when the "IN" group promotes distain and hatred so deep that death is not only possible, but deserved...

These kind of events and attitudes run completely counter to the experience of enlightenment. One does not have to reach enlightenment to feel this. Simply coming close often enough and/or by surrounding oneself with enlightened spirits, one can clearly see that not only are the attitudes of judgment, distain and hatred way off path, but all of the attitudes, of separatism and superiority are as well.

What is more frustrating than the lost people, the ones that don't even know the path exists, are the ones who know it does, who are familiar with it, but who say, "That's just the way things are," or "The problem is too big for me to do anything about," or "You have to go along to get along," and in their weakness do go along...

In "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle, the concept of flowers being the first examples of enlightened BEings emerges. At one time there were no flowers in the plant world. One day the first flower appeared, and showed all of the others what was possible... Slowly others followed the example and now many many plants live in grace as flowers. Among people there were first flowers, too. Buddha, Lao Tzu, Lord Krishna, Jesus and Muhammad were some. Later examples are Gandhi, Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy. Many of these "flowers" were murdered for their teachings. The weeds couldn't stand for their shining example. Flowering, as a way of life, continues to grow today, but many weeds are determined to hang on to their old ways, ways where they are rewarded through judgment, distain and hatred...

In a conversation with my daughter the other day, I was fretful. I had temporarily wandered off path. I was so distracted by the intransigent obdurance of the weeds, that I became disoriented, and told her I was having a difficult time finding the path again. She said, "I can understand your frustration, but imagine what it must be like for the Dalai Lama? He is the ultimate flower and everyone else must seem like a weed by comparison!" She continued, "The way I see it, you can revert, you can let your own Ego ruin your experience because you can't exact change at the speed you would like, or you can accept the ultimate challenge for a spiritual teacher, to learn to live among the weeds, helping and teaching when the opportunities present themselves, and allowing and accepting that the river is flowing where it should, when they don't."

Smart girl. Who is the teacher here?

Today, recognize when you are off path. Have the courage to make a difference. YOU may be the only person in the room who has a compass, so don't be afraid to lead others to the path, even if only by your example. Notice your Ego boost when you denigrate an "OUT" group and how you feel superior. Simply your acknowledgment of this will lead to a change of heart. Finally, accept that your example is the only true way to teach. A flower lives among weeds without Ego. It presents the opportunity for a brighter existence merely through its BEing...

Duffy

We all have perfect LOVE within us...

Peaceful, enlightened people have perfect love within them, as do we all. The only difference between them and US, is they have nothing else within them.

The other day I read a post on a well-known social media site that said, by removing the suffering of others, we take away their opportunity to grow... What kind of crap is that! It is the kind of crap that pseudo-intellectuals buy into. The real intellectuals behind this kind of reasoning are motivated by ideology, an ideology that promotes greed and selfishness. Manipulating people into believing that by helping they are somehow harming, allows the "pseudos" to feel good about their own selfishness. It gives them an "out."

If you remove a child from an abusive situation, are you taking away their opportunity to grow? If you provide food assistance to the hungry, are you taking away their opportunity to grow? No, you are LOVING them in the way that God does.

I grew up in a working class household. We rarely had money for stylish clothes, the latest stuff or fancy cars. We bought the practical, stripped down models, whether it was cars, clothes, shoes or entertainment. We got the encyclopedias that were offered through a grocery store promotion... We weren't "under-privileged," however we were never members of a Country Club. The Country Club kids grew up at the "Club," and so it feels completely natural for them to be among the rich, powerful and influential. That is their life experience, to be accepted. They have absorbed all of the little nuances of that lifestyle, along with all the confidence necessary to succeed at that level. They couldn't imagine and wouldn't settle for anything less! I, however, after college and a life full of travel, knowledge and other experiences, still don't feel quite comfortable in the "Country Club" environment. There are subtleties that I missed growing up. This is similar to growing up speaking a foreign language. Learning later in life to speak English, or whatever the language in your new country (environment), almost always results in speaking with an accent. That's how it is for me. I am successful, but I still have an "accent" showing I wasn't born to wealth...

Now, imagine for a moment that you grew up in an inner city ghetto where you never knew ANYONE who had a job. Nobody in your own family ever experienced more than a minimum wage, day laborer type existence. Nobody went to college, most never finished high school. Imagine you never saw anybody read, or exhibit any appreciation for knowledge or learning. Imagine that the only way you ever saw anyone succeed was through selling drugs, pimping, or the rare opportunity offered by professional sports. Imagine further that your family never had enough to eat, often had to choose between medicine and food, or medicine and rent, or rent and food. Imagine nobody you knew owned a car... Now imagine you are walking into a place of business to get a job. You've never seen anyone fill in a job aplication, never mind done it yourself. Imagine you have never heard anyone speak in a professional voice. Imagine you don't read very well, since you have had to skip school often to watch your younger siblings, when your one parent found a day's pay somewhere, or your grandmother was sick and needed help. Since you have never seen anyone go to an interview wearing a shirt and tie, nice slacks and shined shoes, how would you know to do so?

Can someone tell me please how removing this kind of suffering is taking the opportunity to grow away from an individual, when the experience of growth, and even the awareness of growth, is a mystery? How in God's name can giving to a person in these circumstances be taking away their opportunity to grow?

BUT, that's exactly what the ideologues, administering this kind of tripe would have you believe. For they do not want to treat ALL as God's children, that would mean sharing. They would have you believe you are superior to those who don't succeed. "If you don't succeed in America, it's your own fault!" What lies... Did Jesus divvy up the loaves and fishes according to some ideologically based value system? No. He gave equally to all. He NEVER even have considered, that removing someone's suffering was taking away their opportunity to grow.

Today, reject the ideology that provides you with caveats to giving LOVE. Don't be manipulated. Don't hold others in judgment. Peaceful, enlightened people have perfect love within them, as do we all. The only difference between them and US, is they have nothing else within them.

Duffy

Anger is a facade of power...

Anger is a facade of power. It is an attempt to feel powerful by the powerless...

What is anger? To begin with, Anger is one of the negative levels of Consciousness. When you experience Anger, you are dipping into the negative, and lowering your level of Consciousness, at least temporarily. If you happen to have been at a lower level, Shame, Guilt, Apathy, etc., then it indicates a move towards the positive, but still falls well short of the positive levels. It lies above Desire (Craving) and below Pride.

As one moves out of the lower levels and begins to overcome FEAR, one begins to want. Wanting (Desire, craving) leads to frustration, and frustration leads to Anger. Anger can be sometimes be used to springboard whole populations of people upward. Frustration with social injustice has led to great movements toward freedom. Most often however, Anger leads to resentment and hatred. Revenge often follows.

The person who exists in Apathy, experiences life from a hopeless, "What's the use in trying?" perspective. The Angry person is not experiencing this. The Angry person is not living in hopelessness, but he/she has allowed their hope to focus on wanting. Exaggerating the importance of their unsatisfied desires turns into frustration. Their Anger from this oftentimes becomes a way of life. They develop a code of conduct, annoyance, irritability, temper, cynicism, etc. Their Anger prevents them from moving to the next higher level, Pride, because their concept of self is externally generated. Their unsatisfied outward life prevents them from feeling Pride. For an in debth look at the levels of Consciousness, I suggest, "Power Vs. Force," by Dr. David R. Hawkins.

We all know angry people. Of the four classic control dramas ("The Celestine Prophecies," by James Redfield), is that of the "Intimidator," which is the preferred choice of Angry people. The intimidator towers overs you, whether literally of figuratively, and intimidates you into submission. Your acquiesence to them sucks energy out of you and into them. It gives them a sense of power, of control, albeit a false one. They compensate for their lack of control over their frustrations by attempting to exercise their control (imagined) over you. They beat their kids, abuse their wives and terrorize anyone and anything weaker than they.

Anger is selfish, self-centered and truly infantile behavior.

Today, notice yourself experiencing annoyance, irritation and Anger, and realize that your frustrations reflect your unrealized cravings. Recognize that no emotional eruption, regardless of magnitude, will ever result in you successfully pushing the river. Anger is a facade of power. It is an attempt to feel powerful by the powerless...

Duffy

A working apology is not an opportunity to restate the original injury...

A working apology is not an opportunity to restate the original injury, nor is it a free "get out of jail card..."

What is an apology? For starters, it is a social convention. It is a kind of grease that allows us to slide past rough spots. It is device of function for both sides. The apologizer is excused for his/her trespass, and the apologizee receives a compensation of sorts for the said trespass. Therefore, it is in the interest of both parties and for society, that this act to be carried out with grace and sincerity.

In today's society, where courtesy and grace seem to be lost arts, "the apology" is taking a beating. Often on display is an outright refusal to apologize, executed by the machismo crowd. Their creed is never apologize, for that would show caring and bring you to the level of the injured. We couldn't have that! We also have developed many pseudo-apologies. An example is the I can't be bothered apology, "Oh all right, I'm sorry, now stop whining. Geesh!" Another common apology today is the non-apology apology, where the apologizer says, "To any of those who MIGHT have been offended I apologize." In other words, I am not sorry for being offensive, but I need to get off the hook (of scrutiny) so I can go back to being offensive.

What is this all about? Are we all too big to be at fault these days? The reason for the social convention was originally developed because eveyone realized that at some time or other THEY would be the one hurt, and by accepting an apology, they would be paying forward for the acceptance they would receive when they were THEY were the perpetrator. What a nice solution!

Today though, we are all Ego-driven one-man teams, too important, too high and mighty to even recognize the collateral damage of our actions nevermind feel bad enough to seek atonement. Afterall, offering an apology might open one up to litigation, and one might have to make reparations, pay damages! Reparations are for LOSERS! Why do you think it is called paying damages? Because these are damages you have caused! Corporations and the wealthy, hire whole lawfirms to create labyrinths of ways to injure without responsibility. Shame on them...

The truth is, when you hurt someone emotionally, caused loss of income, ended a life, poisoned an environment, crippled a child through an injury or a carcinogen, or have otherwise polluted the functioning beauty of someone's life, you have a responsibility to apologize to them, even when doing so acknowledges a debt.

Today, BE careful. When you do offend, don't let your Ego rule. Apologize. A sincere apology from the heart affirms that the offended one is of value. And, when you receive a heartfelt apology, accept it graciously, for a working apology is not an opportunity to restate the original injury...

Duffy

Broken trust is the abandoned home of love...

An abandoned home advertises, "Nobody loves here anymore." Broken trust is the abandoned home of love...

Treachery attacks the most vulnerable place, the place of trust. When someone trusts us, they are giving us the secret code of their BEing. More than that they are expressing their view of life. They are showing their belief in a loving GOD, a benevalent Universe, and that they live in LOVE and not FEAR.

When we, through malevalence, selfishness or neglect, perform an act of treachery, it brings our level of Consciousness down to zero, a level of non-Consciousness. We must actually climb up through the swamp of the lowest levels in order to reach any postive level of Conciousness again.

Shame (20) Perilously close to death. Suicide is often an escape from this. We wish we were invisible. This level is physically and emotionally destructive, and makes us prone to physical illness.

Guilt (30) Just above Shame. Remorse, recrimination, masochism and victimhood. Self-mutilation (physical and emotional), as well as rage and even killing are frequent expressions.

Apathy (50) Characterized by despair and hoplessness. The world and the future look bleak. It is not simply the lack of resources, but the lack of energy to avail ourselves of life.

Grief (75) Sadness, loss and dependency live here. Regret, depression and a constant remorse about the past are constant. This level colors one's entire level of existence.

Fear (100) From this vantage point the world looks to be full of traps and threats. Fear limits growth of the personality and leads to inhibition, because it takes energy to rise above fear. The fearful person cannot attain higher levels of Consciousness unaided.

Anger (150) As people move up from Apathy and Grief they begin to want. Buddha said desire is the source of all suffering. Frustrated wanting leads to Anger. Anger expresses itself most often as resentment and revenge. Anger leads easily to hatred and has an erosion effect on all areas of a persons life. (For a comprehensive description of levels of Consciousness, read, "Power Vs. Force" by Dr. David R. Hawkins).

Treachery is the vilest of acts, because it grabs the person who trusted, and violently throws them down into the cesspool of the lowest levels of Consciousness. It forces them to experience all of the horrors that reside there, horrors that they may have worked very hard to rise above. When you break someone's trust, you suck the LOVE out of their existence and replace it with FEAR. And not only that, you inflict the same journey on yourself. Finally, anyone merely observing the act of treachery is knocked from their "level" as they experience anger, and cynicism...

Today, look at your actions, your plans, and your rationalizations, and acknowledge how your selfishness is an attack on the trust of others, an attack on their most vulnerable places, and know that you are undermining their LOVE and their lives. You are destroying the home in which they live. Broken trust is the abandoned home of love...

Duffy

Make your "go-to" expression a big welcoming smile...

Everyone loves to be around happy people. Make your "go-to" expression a big welcoming smile...

What attracts us to smiles? Smiles are ACCEPTING. A smile advertises that we are accepted as ourselves. There is no threat, no menace, no doom...no reason for FEAR. This feels good (God). Naturally we smile back, giving the same gift of acceptance. When we are accepted we can let down our defenses, and put all of that energy into the task at hand, even if the task at hand is simply enjoying oneself!

We are attracted to people who smile first. It shows courage. Have you ever smiled at someone who didn't smile back? It saps some of your energy to fight off the FEAR that the non-smiler might present some danger. That's what makes "go-to" smilers so attractive. They have risen above FEAR. They are unabashedly putting it out there. They are expressing to all, that they will not be subject to fear, and neither should you.

There is another reason why we are attracted to a smile. A smile indicates that the smiler is experienceing JOY. Joy is a very high state of Concsiouness. LOVE is the state of Consciousness, where the person has risen beyond pure reason, allowing their existence to BE, "your head and all of your other talents and abilities live in service to your heart" (Pavlina). JOY is the level above LOVE. JOY is, "A state of pervasive, unshakable happiness" (Tolle). This is the level of advanced spiritual teachers/leaders. It is the level of Saints. "Just being around people at this level makes you feel incredible. At this level life is fully guided by synchronicity and intuition" (Pavlina). There is no need for goal-setting at this advanced level. Your Consciousness has BEcome so expanded that all of your thoughts and actions are in synch with the Universe. Planning is unneccesary, BEcause an unshakable knowing that everything will BE all right, is your state of BEing. For more detail on this subject, I suggest you read, "Power vs Force" by Dr. David R. Hawkins.

So when someone smiles at us we are welcomed, possibly into the presence of a transcendent person. A person at the high level of JOY can counterbalnce millions of people who exist in the negative levels of Consciousness: shame, guilt, apathy, grief, craving, and anger. We all know at some level that these people exist, even if we might not be Conscious of this fact. Simply BEing around one of these people raises YOUR level of Consciousness!

Today, when you see someone smile recognize, BEcome Conscious, of the effect the smile has. Open your heart to the possibility of JOY. You may not have reached that level permanently, but you can feel it temporarily. Make your "go-to" expression a big welcoming smile...!!! :)

Duffy

God experiences Consciousness through you...

God experiences Consciousness through you. How Conscious have you been?

God/Universe experiences through manifested creation. It is one thing for God/Universe to know itself as all things, but knowing is not experiencing. Knowing is not feeling, tasting, or savoring... Experiencing is tricky though. You can't for instance, experience dark unless you are light, and vice versa. This is just the way of things: hot/cold, organic/inorganic, ancient/new, as well as unconscious/conscious. You can't experience being one thing, if everything is also that one thing. There is a wonderful children's book called, "The Candle in the Sun," by Neale Donald Walsch, that explains that of course the candle can't see itself as bright, when it is up against the sun. It needs darkness to see itself for what it truly is. Now, it is relatively easy to juxtapose dark next to light, or organic next to inorganic, however Consciousness presents a slightly more complex set of challenges.

Consciousness is knowing. It is also experiencing, but it's the knowing that makes it difficult to juxtapose. God/Universe can't experience Godself while knowing it is Godself.  Also, God/Universe is ALL things, and it is difficult to experience Godself because there isn't anything that isn't Godself to juxtapose. And we know that to EXPERIENCE Godself, it must not know it is Godself, a dilemna for sure.

The solution to this is tiny pieces of Godself take on the Earthly form of humans, forgetting that they are Godself. They are conscious, and are able to fully experience God/Universe, because they can't remember before they arrived and so are temporarily un-knowing that they are God/Universe. They are aware of themselves and each other, but believe they are separate from God/Universe and each other. So, because you are un-knowing, God/Universe experiences Godself through YOU!

Our journey here as humans is to decide and express who we truly are.  Most people, it is estimated at 85%+, live their entire lives in the negative levels of Consciousness: Apathy, Shame, Guilt, FEAR, Craving, Anger, Pride and Jealousy. They never reach the exalted states: Joy, LOVE and Enlightenment. They might briefly touch Courage, Neutrality, Willingness, Acceptance or Reason, but slide right back to the negative states as soon as they experience FEAR. Sometimes by doing a drug, a human may experience unconditional LOVE for the first time in his/her life. It is such an unbelievably joyous state, that they mistake the drug for the experience. They keep taking the drug over and over to try and recapture that moment. Instead they fall into Craving, a negative state and waste their lives. The Joyous state was theirs for the asking all the time. All they had to do was walk the path of enlightenment, upward through the levels of Consciousness...

Since God/Universe experiences Consciousness through you, what kind of experience are you offering? Are you offering Fear, selfishness, hoarding, separateness, manipulation and Ego judgment, or are you offering LOVE? For instance, when someone asks,"Do you want to become some Socialist country and have to wait in line all day to see a doctor?" Most respond, "No way!" Now imagine for a moment how God/Universe would respond. "You mean, all I have to do is wait in line for EVERYBODY to be able to receive care? Nobody who is sick will be turned away if I simply wait a little bit?"

Today, monitor your thoughts. Everytime you judge, or have a negative thought about someone or something, you are offering that experience to God/Universe. You are limiting God/Universe's experiences to the negative levels of Consciousness. YOU can do SO much better, for God experiences Consciousness through you...

Duffy

Abundance will not be achieved through the contemplation of scarcity...

Abundance is a personal perspective. Abundance will not be achieved through the contemplation of scarcity...

I remember an event I experienced when I was young and in my first real grown up relationship. We were invited to the home of one of my married co-worker's for some drinks and dinner. When we arrived we were greeted warmly. When asked what we would like to drink, my girl and I both said, "A beer will be fine." When the wife of my friend returned to the living room, she was visibly angry. Turning towards my co-worker, her husband, she launched into blaming their roommate for drinking their beer and ruining her dinner party. My co-worker went and looked into the fridge and came out smiling. He said with a huge grin, "At least we have one!"

That comment struck me like a thunderbolt, and has stayed with me for almost four decades. I had never previously heard anyone respond to calamity with such grace. My friend passed away not long afterward, but his wonderful, loving spirit lives on. His perspective changed me, and so he lives on in me.

Abundance is nothing more than a judgment. There are billionaires that can't get enough, and there are people who give there last buck to a homeless person. What is the difference? The billionaire lives in a world of scarcity while the almost broke philanthropist resides in a world of abundance.

We are not simply talking about money either. There are those that think that there is a limit to kind words, that somehow acknowledging a job well done, talent, good looks, or some other positive quality, takes something away from them. They believe when someone expresses love, it means the love must be taken from somewhere else, as if there isn't enough to go around. There is...

What is ironic about this is nobody enjoys being around someone selfish. Think of the words we use to describe them and their manner: selfish, avaricious, greedy, tight-fisted, money-grubbing, envious, parsimonious, penny-pinching, tightwad, skinflint... Do any of those sound pleasant? Then why do so many people fail and fall into such a state?

FEAR.

Their Ego has convinced them they are separate, separate from God and separate from each other. One who is separate is alone, and must fend for himself. They see competition as the only route to success. They live in a world where there is never enough, and so they must accumulate and hoard, which gives them a false sense of security. Generosity is seen as a threat to this imagined security.

The truth is there is enough for ALL. WE are all ONE. God is all things. And if God is all things, then everything is God. YOU are not separate from God or each other. How could you be if God is all things? Every part of God works together harmoniously, in cooperation, as the cosmic wheel turns. We are the species on Earth where Consciousness is experienced by God. Unfortunately, we have through our Ego, been holding up the evolution of Consciousness. Our selfishness has been blocking the Universe (God) from experiencing the next level. There have been many spiritual leaders: Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Lao Tzu and Mohammed among others, that have come and shown us the way, however, other men have abducted their words, and twisted them for personal gain. They have used FEAR as the "stick" and good behavior as the "carrot."

However, the Earth is a "Garden," and there is plenty for all. We simply have to make the shift in Consciousness and recognize that we are ALL ONE, and act accordingly, which is unselfishly, because we have nothing to FEAR. This will happen. It is inevitable that we BEgin to see who we really are. Simply allow and accept that all will be fine and normal. There IS ENOUGH...

Today, break out of your fear. Give something away. Start small. Give a compliment. Notice someone for out-performing you. Stop putting limits on how much love you show and how much can be shown to others. Abundance is a personal perspective. Abundance will not be achieved through the contemplation of scarcity...

Duffy

Keep your mind free of divisions and distinctions...

Keep your mind free of divisions and distinctions. When your mind is detached, simple and still, you will exist in harmony with all things... Lao Tzu said as much...

We live in a culture that values success. When we succeed, we are rewarded, we are compensated. We are accorded self-esteem with all the things we can accumulate and show off. We get to brag (but only indirectly!). We are encouraged to compete, always, with everyone, as in "Only the strong survive!" We are judged by how much money we make. "He's done well for himself," or "She landed a fine catch." Is it any wonder we believe that money leads to happiness?

But what do we really get? We sacrifice our health chasing money, and then we sacrifice the money trying to recuperate our health (Dalai Lama). We worry about the future so much we sacrifice the present. We disassociate from long time friends in order to hide our past from our new (and successful) friends, for we must keep up appearances! We are attached to every outcome, so much so in fact, that many of us suffer heart attacks caused by trying to control everything (type A personality). We attempt to control everything in our environment to make sure WE are presented always in the best light. Can't let our weaknesses show, our success depends on it. In short, we become our own collateral damage.

When we're not chasing the almighty buck, we chase gratifications. We're afraid to be alone or unoccupied, because we haven't learned how. We NEED a distraction: calling, texting, talking, games, 24 hour news cycle, all night restaurants/supermarkets/casinos, 500 TV stations...the internet! If someone in an airport was sitting in quiet contemplation they would be reported as acting strangely!

This all encompassing need to compete and connect has us at odds with our environment. We are consumed with trying to change the outcome, shade the odds, twist arms, color, camouflage, conceal, hide and SELL. The truth is you can't pull the river, nor can you push it. All of this pressure we are trying to exert on outcomes hurts our health and wastes our lives.

In stillness, BEing is revealed. If you don't meditate BEgin. If you don't know how, learn. Sitting quietly, alone with yourself will show you your real existence, the one you have been busy running from. Ponder. Contemplate. Reflect. Focus on your breathing. Remove all thoughts from your mind. When you stop trying to wrestle with life you BEgin to experience harmony with it. You BEgin to see that all things are flowing naturally and harmoniously, and only YOU were preventing yourself from seeing this. When you stop trying to push the river, you BEgin to marvel at how smoothly everything is running without your struggle... and your struggle dissolves...

Today, when you see yourself angling for an advantage, when you notice yourself pushing, pulling, controlling and SELLING, recognize that it is these activities, these perspectives that are draining you of life and good health. Choose to stop and allow everything to go well without your desires. When your mind is detached, simple and still, you will exist in harmony with all things...

Duffy

God's grace is not doled out for good behavior...

God's grace is not doled out for good behavior, it is everywhere, at all times, yours for the taking...

When I was twelve years old I was what they'd call a really "Holy" kid. I got up everyday and walked over a mile to church for 5 o'clock mass, and back home to get ready for school. For those of you who have never had the good fortune to live in New England, the weather can be mighty unfriendly at 4 AM, but I had made a duty to myself to commit to God. At that time I was a candidate for the St. Michael's Medal (we belonged to the parish of St. Michael's). People were awarded the medal based on their committment to their faith. I was committed...

One of the trials of medal candidates was we had to go to confession (one of the seven sacraments) in person, not in the usual confessional. There was no darkness, no anonimity, no privacy of any kind, which was normally experienced when one bared their soul during confession. I actually felt no squeamishness, it seemed fine for me to be confessing to someone who was "standing in for God." I went through a short litany of some of the things I had done. When I informed the priest that I had "touched myself impurely," which was code for masterbation, the priest said to me, "Well if you continue with that you're going to go to HELL!" My first reaction was shock, then dismay, but incredulity rose up like a wave and washed them aside. I felt as if I could see clearly for the first time. I blurted out, "No I'm not. I'm a good kid," and I got up and left, not even allowing him to respond or finish. I never went back to church again. Yeah, I went into the building, for my parents needed people to see that their children went to church, but my heart never went again...

On some level I discovered my sprirtual self on that day. It took me years to overcome the fear of HELL, but little by little that poison seed that had been planted in me, before I was old enough to know my own mind, was also overcome.

There is no "God's judgment," or "Judgment Day." That stuff is brain-washing pure and simple, designed to make us fearful, to keep us in line. By placing themselves in the position as God's sole liaison, church officials make themselves powerful, for they and only they, get to dole out God's grace, for good behavior, tithing or whatever happens to be currently necessary for their security. The unbelievable masacring of the Native American peoples was all done with the blessing of countless protestant ministers. The attrocities against the jews by the Nazis were "overlooked" by the Pope, in agreement that he would have sole contact with the German people during the war. Every military post has its resident selection of "holy men" to bless the troops and lift the moratorium on killing. Can you imagine how long a church would stay in favor if they refused to bless the killing? No, God does not judge, the judgement of what is right and what is wrong is the world of men. What was wrong yesterday is not today and vice-versa...

Today, BEgin to think of God as the whole Universe, everything, every cell, every molecule, ALL things, big and small. BEgin to see that God experiences God-self through each and every animal, plant, and planet. God gets to experience Consciousness through you, and you get to experience God through your BEing. This is what Jesus told us, that "The Kingdom of God is in you." God's grace is not doled out for good behavior, it is everywhere, at all times, yours for the taking...

Duffy

The face of God can be seen in everything...

God makes no distinction between beautiful and ugly. Why do you? The face of God can be seen in everything...

As a photgrapher, I am constantly amazed at the compositional opportunities presented by the "dull, mundane and downright ugly." I use quotation marks here to designate that those adjectives are subjective. There is NO definitive rating for beauty. What you consider beautiful or not is entirely subjective.

I find it interesting that my growth as a spiritual human BEing parallels somewhat my growth as a photographer. The more I grow and allow and accept spiritually, the more I recognize that what I see as unappealing, is based on my JUDGMENT, and not on any implicit reality. I have BEcome enchanted with the prospects for great shots, attainable in a tangle of dried sticks, or a pile of dead leaves. Seeing things in this way has opened the door to ideas that were not possible as long as I was hampered by thinking only "beautiful" things were "good" as subject matter...

You don't have to be a photographer or an artist of any type to benefit from this new way of seeing. Most people have experienced the absolute bliss of living when they stand in front of the Grand Canyon, or some other spectacular vista for the first time. We see the face of God in the face of a new baby. Playing with a loving, licking puppy, elicits laughter from anyone with a heartbeat. One's responses to "beauty" seem Universal, but they are actually learned. Through cultural conditioning, and through Egoic judgment we decide what is "beautiful" and what is not. You don't have to have an advanced degree in fractal geometry to see beauty in the "ugly," you simply have to BEgin looking at things in a new way, an accepting way, in the way God does.

Beauty is a part of the simple bliss of living. The bliss of living is available to us all, at ALL times. We, however, have decided that some living is not as good as other living. We have narrowly defined bliss to be only a tiny segment of living. We actually block out our bliss the rest of the time, as we complain and whine and judge, waiting and hoping for one of those moments WE classify as blissful. If it ain't up to our standards, it ain't cool...!

Once we BEgin to see the face of God in everything, we BEgin to see bliss appearing through the fog of judgment. Life and everything in it BEgins to look differently. All elements are seen as working cooperatively, seamlessly... Everything BEcomes beautiful...

Today, look hard at something you think is ugly. Try to imagine it as God would. What is its purpose? How is it helping the wheel of the Universe turn? Recognize that it is only your judgment that is making it ugly. God makes no distinction between beautiful and ugly, so why do you?

Duffy

Imagine others are looking to you for inspiration...

Imagine others are looking to you for inspiration, and your next choice is going to influence theirs...

Neale Donald Walsch (author of the "Conversations With God" trilogy) is a remarkable spiritual BEing, as are we all. The only difference is he wears his spirituality on the outside. He cares. He shares. He inspires. He inspired me today to write this blog. Thank you Neale!

Remember in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life," when George Bailey is shown by his guardian angel Clarence how life would have been without George's inspirational life, how Bedford Falls would have devolved into the dreaded Pottersville if he hadn't existed? This is not just the plot of a 1946 movie starring Jimmy Stewart, this is the actual plot of life, YOUR life. As much as you like to think you live an inconspicuous existence, unseen, unnoticed and unassuming, you are extremely visible to all you contact and to many whose lives you enter only obliquely.

EVERYTHING you think, say and do has enormous repercussions. When you consider the accretion of events throughout your lifetime, you have had a huge effect. Every thought you have is creative, whether conscious or uinconscious. Every statement you make has even more power, and finally your actions as the third and most powerful element of "thought, word and deed," actually change the course of the Universe. You build with every grain of sand. Each brick you lay adds to the monument of your influence.

Now that you have glimpsed the dynamic effect of your BEing, think for a minute how you have altered the lives and attitudes of others. When for instance, you stand up to a prevailing tradition that simply doesn't fit with "who you are," you not only end the tacit agreement that condoning in silence would promote, you also inspire others. Maybe someone in the circle felt the same way, and your courage inspired them to BEcome unafraid to express themselves too. Another possibility may be that during your daily travels you unknowingly come across a soul who is at the end of their rope. By spreading LOVE and happiness instead of FEAR and dread, you might make the difference, saving a life. Whatever you think, say and do, adds either to the Light, or the Darkness, there is no neutral, only positive or negative.

Take this knowledge then, and combine it with the above mentioned monument you have been building, and consider that each soul you come into contact with is also buidling their own monument! Your inspiration is multiplied by a factor of thousands...

Today, use the knowledge that everything you think, say or do is inspiring someone. You are either going to help them build their monument through your inspiration, or you are going to demolish what they have accomplished so far. Remember they are adding the bricks today, that will be their foundation years from now. Imagine others are looking to you for inspiration, for indeed your next choice is going to influence theirs...

Duffy

Tolerance is trusting that others know what is best for them...

Adopt an attitude of non-judgment. Tolerance is trusting that others know what is best for them...

"Look at all those young girls, with their bellies hanging out. What a disgrace!" says a woman with an equally protruding abdomen, simply one that is covered up. What is at work here? Two elements come to mind. The first is intolerance of what is socially acceptable. The second, is we dislike in others what we dislike in ourselves.

For the first part, we are culturalized from birth to conform to a set of standards. Each of us, however, has a different culturalizing experience, so these "standards" are actually OUR developed opinions. A child raised by immigrant parents for instance, is going to absorb some of the parents' native culture, which will be different than that of the children of natve born parents. Depending on your religion, geographic area, military or non-military background, how often you moved, your gender, economic class, birth order, and right down to who your friends were, etc., your version of what is socially acceptable is unique to you, although it is likely you imagine your "opinions" are held universally. Your Ego, needing to be important, aligns itself with groups it concludes are superior. As a member of the IN group, we imagine we will be endowed with this "superior" status. Derision and ridicule of non-members, the OUT group, is a way of showing allegiance to the IN group, and typically we continually re-state our allegiance in this fashion. This method is especially important to, and utilized by the members who show no other outward signs of membership. An example is when extremely poor, white racists, need to openly show bigotry, to separate themselves from the equally poor minority groups, of which they imagine themselves to be superior. This is all an illusion. We are all ONE, and our similarities far out weigh our differences.

The second part is conceptually difficult for some. One way of looking at this is when we see traits in others that we didn't like in ourselves, traits we have worked hard to fix or improve, we are irritated that the others in question have not done the hard work we have. The above quoted woman has tried to dress in a manner which hid her imagined flaws, and she is put off by those who apparently don't care to. Another example would be, the proverbial "reformed smoker." Quitting smoking is very hard work. Reformed smokers are very irked by those who those who continue smoking, apparently oblivious to the multitude of reasons that caused the reformer to quit. Another way this dislike manifests itself is as a method of self-preservation. There are parts of ourselves that we dislike, and we are afraid these disliked traits might come out. We police ourselves by openly commenting negatively, and then are forced to keep our own disliked traits supressed, so that we don't appear to be hypocrits. Ah, the games people play...

Since you are operating entirely from within the constructs of your own experience, your set of standards, are just that, YOUR set of standards. When operating in a group setting, YOU act as you believe the groups wants, all in an attempt to maintain membership. However, your set of standards, including the adopted standards of any group you are aligned with, are NOT universal, nor are they correct. They are what YOU have decided are correct. They don't apply to others. This is very difficult for most people to conceptualize, and even harder to accept...

Today, when you have a derisive or judgmental thought, stop and ask yourself why it is YOU believe you have the right to decide for others, what is in their best interest. It is said, "You don't see others as they are, you see them as you are." Acknowledge this and BEgin to allow and accept others as they are. Allow them the same liberty you have allowed yourself. BE tolerant. Tolerance is trusting that others know what is best for them...

Duffy

Seek to understand instead of being understood...

Seek to understand instead of being understood. Winning an argument is not as important as winning a heart...

Recently, I was asked in a Spiritual meeting, how to go about handling a contentious conversation, where one is being asked to do something unreasonable in a relationship. I answered, that as long as your Ego has you believing you are separate from the other, you will view things as win/lose from your perspective. I suggested coming from a place of ONEness, where the soul of one IS the soul of both, where no outcome that doesn't serve the best interest of both can be considered. Further I offered, "Seek first to understand, not be understood."

This advice runs counter to what we are indoctrinated to believe in our culture. Religion sells us redemption for good behavior or tithing. In the package come commandments, not the least of which is a moratorium on killing. I say moratorium, because the minute the entity is threatened, within which the religion has been allowed to prosper, the moratorium is lifted, and killing the perceived enemy is blessed. Every army in history has gone to war with God on their side...

Young men are taught, "Big boys don't cry." They are taught to offer their bodies for the good of the team in high school football. They are groomed as cannon fodder from birth. Pacifists are ostracized. We are taught to fight, fight, FIGHT!

Your Ego needs to be special. It will participate in ANY activity that garners "special" accolades. It sees itself as separate, and separate needs to be better as far as the Ego is concerned. It will align itself with any group whose membership raises its status. It will fight, kill and even die for this special status, and do anything including commit horrendous atrocities as long as it can maintain membership. Countries are run by the wealthiest citizens. They own and control the greatest accumulation of assets. So when countries decide to go to war, they say it is in "OUR" vital interests, but in reality it is in the interests of the controlling wealthy. But YOU desparately want to be a "member in good standing," so you agree to become cannon fodder.

In reality you were/are never alone. We are all ONE. We are all pieces of the universe. God is all things, and that means you are God. And so is the person with whom you are arguing. So are the people with whom your country is arguing.

We need to BEgin to reframe the debate. It must BEcome a conversation of deserving equals at ALL times. The central tenet must BEcome knowing WE are all ONE. You can't agrue with yourself. And shutting down your Ego shuts down the indoctrination. Ending the delusion that you are in any way separate from others and/or from God, ends your abitilty to: argue, fight or kill...

Today, notice whenever you feel superior to another. This is a clear sign that your Ego has separated you from them. It is a delusion. Instead imagine you are ONE and coming from the same place. Seek to understand instead of being understood...

Duffy

Peace, contentment and equanimity are the goals...

Peace, contentment and equanimity are the goals of and eventually the fruits of a spiritual life...A life worth living!

Most people can't stand to be with themselves. They need constant gratification to get through their day, contact, interaction, and distraction, and now that we have smart phones and social media of all types, we never actually have to be alone!

Gratification comes in two colors, we need to buy something, so our Ego can be gratified (temporarily), or we need a distraction (from ourselves). The buying/possessing strategy is the Ego's realm. The Ego needs to be important. It will look for any way possible be special. What happens when you buy something? You gain control over it, and your hoard of assets becomes larger. The more you accumulate, the more important and powerful you must be. People can't wait to show off their new stuff, because their Ego gets a hit every time they do! There is a reverse to this showing off too. Think of how many times people don't want to go to a function because they "have nothing to wear." They obviously have something to wear, they just might not have something new and impressive. Their Ego doesn't want to be subjected  to appearing less, less than special, less affluent, or less powerful than the others at the function. Ordinary is not the arena of the Ego. Also, when you make a purchase, your Ego imagines that certain qualities of the item are accrued to it, sophistication, taste, connections, and wherewithal, all irresistible.

As for distractions, they come in many shapes: activities, prejudices, hatreds, grudges, sports, gossip, mortification, victimhood, and the list goes on. Holding a grudge keeps your Ego occupied with anger and self. It uses up lots of emotion/time and keeps your Ego feeling superior. Predjudices are much the same. Gossip allows you to be special because YOU (temporarily) know something about someone else that other's don't. Victimhood, "POOR YOU!"

There are four major control dramas (James Redfield) used by your Ego for sucking energy out of others and thus accruing it:
1. The Intimidator - intimidates you until you cower. The cowered, lesser position gives energy and power to the intimidator.
2. The Inquisitor - askes an endless series of "gotcha" questions, until the you falter, then they jump in and say,"SEE!" garnering energy and power from your failure.
3. The Aloof - constantly backs up, causing you to keep stepping forward. They cause you to chase them which demonstrates their importance.
4. The Poor Me - who constantly complains and cries foul. When you comfort them, you give them your energy.

None of this is going to bring you one iota closer to peace and equanimity. In fact, it is keeping you from it. Equanimity is a state of balance. It needs nothing to happen. Gratification is the exact opposite. It is entirely unbalanced and based on need. As long as you continue on the path of gratification, you will need to keep seeking and searching for more, always MORE!

The way out of this is to gain control of your Ego. The only way to accomplish this is to BEgin to observe yourself. Observe what you say, what you do. There actually is a space between your thoughts. Try to stay in that gap as long as possible. Just BE still, silent. When a thought comes in don't pay it attention, just let it go by. Focus on your breathing. Eventually, with enough practice, you will be able to remain in that place of stillness, and you will BEgin to see LIFE in a new, undistracted way. You won't need to buy anything, or need to contact anyone, you won't need to DO anything, and your Ego won't be needed. You will BEgin to understand that you are a Human BEing, not a Human doing...

Today, simply try to watch yourself. Take a deep breath. Feel how wonderful it is simply to fill your lungs with air. Focus on your body. How do your hands feel? How do your legs feel touching the chair? Concentrate on the space between thoughts, where there are no thoughts. Peace, contentment and equanimity are the goals...

Duffy

Security is only in your mind...

Security is only in your mind. It is not something that can be accumulated "out there."

We are spiritual Beings having a human experience, and not the other way around. However, most of us have bought into the illusion of the other way around so deeply that we live in an almost constant state of fear. We are so afraid that we spend most of our time trying to set up defenses/barriers/protections to keep out calamity. None of this is possible. Consider the billionaire who goes to the doctor and learns he has stage four cancer and a week to live, or who gets lost flying solo from New York to Martha's Vineyard and crashes to his death. Where was the security? All of the planning and defenses, all of the hoarding and careful investment in barriers to misfortune were for naught. When it is time for your spiritual self to leave your human form behind, all of your imagined security is shown for what it always was, a placebo, a sugar pill, possibly self-administered therapy, but nothing more...

The only real security is in your attitude. You can decide to remove worry from your toolbag and remain present. You can decide to stop comparing the past to the imagined future and stay in the NOW. JOY follows. LOVE follows. Nothing can keep you from experiencing JOY and LOVE when you remain present. It is "The Power of Now" (Tolle).

Most people spend the majority (if not all) of their time either dredging up the past or worrying about the future. This leaves no time for what you are here for, a human experience. God is all things. This presents a problem. God being all things, can know this, but can't experience it. In order to experience something one must BE something other. This is explained wonderfully in the story for children,"The Candle in the Sun," by Eckhart Tolle. The essence is the candle can't tell it is bright because it is next to the sun. Only when it is next to darkness can it experience itself as bright. God, to solve this problem, sends a little piece of itself to take on human form, forgetting that it is God. The piece, YOU, can then actually experience God, and God can experience itself through you. The problem is that most people get here and make no attempt at experiencing God, they get completely immersed into the illusion, that they are something separate from God. Then feeling alone they experience FEAR. Fear causes them to plot and plan against adversity/hardship/catastrophe, seeking security. But there is no security. YOU are only here to experience the NOW, to be present. God is attempting to experience itself through you... right NOW.

Today, when you find yourself dredging up the past and re-examining all of the hurts and failures that you have stored as memories, stop... and come back to the present. There is nothing in your memories that God wants to experience. When you catch yourself worrying, awfulizing about the future, imagining scenarios where you might fail, STOP... You are missing the living. You are missing the JOY. You are missing the LOVE, for security is only in your mind...

Duffy

Pawns, are simply those controlled by the collective unconscious...

If you don't take charge of your life, you're a pawn of those who do (Pavlina). Pawns are simply those controlled by the collective unconscious...

What is the collective unconscious? Let's begin with what it's made of. The collective unconscious is comprised of thoughts, unconscious thoughts. Thoughts are nothing more than electrical impulses. All electrical impulses have a magnetic field around them. This field is sometimes referred to as lines of flux. This is simply physics. The magnetic field around an impulse is amplified when its lines of flux cross into the flux of another impulse, as long as they have the same polarity. If their polarity is opposite they cancel each other out to the degree of the strength of their individual fields. So thoughts attract like thoughts and repel unlike thoughts. Like thoughts gain power when they band together, as in, "Whenever two or more of you are gathered in my name..." This power actually creates movement of matter and energy. So, thoughts are creative...

Think about that. Your thoughts actually create. "What you think about, comes about..."

Now, how many of YOUR thoughts are unconscious, reflexive repeats of things you've heard, or that are based on your fears/hatreds/frustrations? When YOU tune in everyday to radio or TV, where the show is contrived to stir up those feelings, you are engaging in a creative act. YOUR thoughts, set in motion by the show's host have incredible power! But it is not you who is controlling them, it is the show's host!!! You're creating, but as a tool, a tool of someone else. You might as well be manure, used to fertilize hate.

Imagine when you drive by a group of "illegals." If you feel hatred for them you are adding to the lines of flux of every other person who goes by and hates them. This amplifies the hatred and given enough power, actually causes acts of hatred and atrocities against "illegals." When your thoughts and the thoughts of the other passersby get strong enough, when they become accepted enough to become words, the second level of creation, they have even more power. They have the power to create similar thoughts in others. Given enough attention, they will eventually become DEEDS, the third and most powerful of the acts of creation. Thought, word and deed...

What can you do about this? YOU can BEgin by controlling your own thoughts. It can take a long time to reach a state where you don't keep slipping back down into the place of unconsciousness, the states of apathy, grief, shame, guilt, hatred, anger, and frustration. Most people live their entire lives in this place, so don't berate yourself if you slip back to where it was once comfortable. When you are exposed to something that causes you to react negatively, try to simply pause before reacting, and get into the gap between your thoughts. Get into the gap and observe yourself. Notice that these feelings/thoughts don't really represent you. They are learned responses. Remind yourself, WE are ALL God's children, all equally pleasing and deserving. Stop yourself from simply mindlessly going along with the crowd. Decide WHO YOU REALLY ARE, and express that! Even the thoughts of only one person, in the opposite polarity of hatred, weakens it, weakens anger, weakens FEAR... BE Conscious! Create your own reality with YOUR thoughts. Stop being a pawn for the collective unconscious, that mindless mass of misdirected hate.

Today, observe yourself. Observe others. Notice how many times you hear things parroted back to you, prejudices, bigotry, hate. Resolve to change yourself. Simply doing that alone results in improving the world. YOUR thoughts have power, so aim them where you direct, not where you are directed...

Duffy

When you attempt to control others, you limit your possibilities...

When you attempt to control others, you keep them from surpassing YOUR abilities. You prevent them from creating something outside of YOUR imagination, and thus you limit YOUR possilbilities...

When you LOVE life, you know to allow and accept that whatever happens will be fine and normal. When you LOVE others you trust them. You give them the opportunity to be the best thay can be, to shine. When you do this they will surprise you, and you will be happy you did.

We have all been exposed to control freaks, bosses, parents, and friends, who can't seem to be happy letting you do and develop on your own. They constantly carp on your performance. They hover and smother, trying to force your round peg into THEIR square hole... Not only is this tiresome, but it is truly unproductive.

How often have you worked side by side with someone, sometimes for years, and then after being invited to their home for the first time, you are exposed to something they do or can do, that completely shatters the narrow-minded view you had of them? "I knew you played guitar, but I didn't think you played like that!" "I heard you did oil paintings, but these should be in a museum, they are awesome!" "You built that? All by yourself!" We box people in, in our minds, limiting what they can do, until suddenly, when our eyes are opened we are shaken, and we come to realize on some level at least, that by limiting them in our minds, we really put limits on ourselves, on our own imaginations.

God is ALL things. And so, all people are God. God is not limited, and neither are they. They are capable of amazing things, when you trust them to offer their best. We had a little celebration recently. People came from four states. Everyone was on a different schedule, wave-length and time frame. Now I could have decided to "guide" everyone with a firm hand and micro-managed every step of the way. By doing that I would have guaranteed that things got done MY way, and to the degree I could force my will on them, I would have been satisfied with the outcome. Instead I decided I would simply express how grateful I was for each one, and how thankful I was for their contribution. Some people cooked, some decorated, some served, some cleaned, some wrapped, some photographed, some helped greet and host, some took care of the music, some took care of the slide-show... Everyone knew what they were capable of, and was encouraged to find just the place they could add value and impact the whole, in their best and most persoanl way. Well, the whole thing went far better than anything "I" could have imagined! And it was all done and received with LOVE, no stress, no FEAR...

Today, give in to the Universe. Opt for allowing. Choose acceptance. Decide that those around you can accomplish great things, all on their own. Let go and let God, for when you CONROL everyone, you prevent them from creating something outside of YOUR imagination, and thus you limit YOUR possibilities...

Duffy

Give thanks for EVERY experience you've ever had...

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Look upon every experience you've ever had, and everyone who's ever played a role in your life, as having come to you for your benefit.

People genarally express how proud they are of WHO THEY ARE. Then they go to great lengths to complain about all the things that happen to them. And, when they can't think of something personal to grouse about, they resort to what they perceive are Universally accepted gripes. "You can't fight City Hall," "Nobody cares," and "You've got to look out for number one!" These perceived Universal gripes show up mostly when we're not sure if our attitudes are shared or will be well received. We probe to see if the listener is negative too. We save the "Life sucks and then you die," comments for such situations, when our Ego wants us to add something that appears clever and sage simultaneously, something bold enough to prevent rejection.

What a comment on our culture that we routinely use words like, pathetic, pitiful, feeble, sad, sorry when we are in the presence of people we just met. Why is it that we feel that a negative comment will have a better chance of finding agreement, of acceptance and help us bond with new acquaintances? Do we think being negative raises our status and makes us appear above it all? God sends us nothing but angels and this is the first experience you want to give them?

Everything and everybody comes to you for only one reason, so you can decide WHO YOU REALLY ARE in relation to them. That's it. Every act is an act of self-definition. Everything you do defines who you are. Whatever you experience gives you a clearer view of yourself by comparison, through what you decide to think, say and do with it. So give thanks for everything! If you suffered at the hands of a violent parent, give thanks! If your family was highly prejudiced and hateful, give thanks! If you grew up dirt poor, give thanks! All of these taught you. Through these you learned and decided who you are...

Stop complaining. You like who you are, right? If you don't, change that right now, right this instant. Don't complain and thus give energy to the negative, CHEER for all you now know! BEcome a champion of WHO YOU ARE! Strive to BE "the greatest version of the grandest vision of yourself" (Walsch) you can imagine. Use each and every experience of your life as wind beneath your wings, and you will not only lift your own spirit, but the spirits of all those around you...

Today, notice how often you and others reach for connection through negativity or commiseration. Ask yourself if you want to continue down that path. Do you want to reinforce this in your culture, or do you want supplant "attitude" with gratitude? Look upon every experience you've ever had, and everyone who's ever played a role in your life, as having come to you for your benefit, for they have...

Duffy