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

Pessimism is an indication you have given up on your Superhero within...

Optimism is a cheerful frame of mind that enables a tea kettle to sing, though in hot water up to its nose. Pessimism is an indication you have given up on your Superhero within...

There was a time when we were energized, excited and exuberant! We caught the scent of a new idea and jumped right in! We were SELF-motivated to reach for and grab the best that life had to offer. WE joined hands and together shouldered the wheel, building an example for the world. What happened?

We went from "Equal rights for all," to "As long as I've got mine..." We left signs for ZERO POPULATION GROWTH on the garbage heap of "opening new markets." Voter Rights have become voter restrictions. "Bring me your tired, your weary..." has become "Papers Please!" "In unity there is strength," has become shooting fish in a barrel. The Fairness Doctrine has been traded for out and out lies... What happened?

Our Egos have joined forces with our culture, claiming that we are all separate. Our Egos do it in an attempt to be special and our culture does it because it can. We live in a media controlled culture, and those who control the media, control the culture. Those that control the culture know that we are far easier to exploit if we are all: ONE MAN TEAMS. In disunity there is weakness. In disconnection there is fear. In separation there is animosity. Dissension brings apathy, dispair and cynicism...

What do we love about Superheroes? We imagine they could be us, and we could be them. The Superhero idea came on the scene in the early 1930s, during the great depression. People were being pummeled on all sides. Those in power exploited them to the max daily. They were suffering misery at the feet of the market puppeteers. These people without hope, relished a world where normal, everyday people could secretly don a mask and go out and thwart the evil, curtail the exploitation, and make things right again, even if it only existed in their imaginations. Jump to the present. We are suffering the same exploitation again. Is it any surprise then that every other movie seems to be about Superheroes? WE are clamoring for someone somewhere to put on a cape and set things straight!

The Superheroes in the movies are a reflection of us. The real Superhero lies in the indomitable SPIRIT of you and I. In the depths of the great depression, the Superhero in US, rose up and put the ALL back in ALL-American. WE need to do it again. We need to each climb out of our hole of fear, apathy and cynicism, and call on the Superhero within. WE need to get back to BEing energized, excited and exuberant! Get back to joining, sharing, caring about recreating a country, and a world where PEACE and JUSTICE and OPPORTUNITY for ALL prevail.

There is just such a movement afoot. It is for a Constitutional amendment to remove all money and special interests from politics. We need to return to "One man, one vote." As the most powerful nation on Earth, we need to once more LEAD the pursuit of human rights, with sharing, caring and unity for all people. We need to care for the Earth, and care for ALL people wherever they reside. The American people are innately good. Let's then call up the Superheroes within and get that innate goodness back into the representative government that WE introduced to the world!

Today, go to GETMONEYOUT.com and sign the petition for the Constitutional Amendment to ban money and special interest from politics. Put on your cape and take a stand for ALL, All Americans, and All the people of the world...

Duffy

Suffering and loss connects you to others...

Suffering and loss connects you to others. No life is free from suffering and loss and thus ALL share the experience...

"In the time of Buddha, a woman named Kisagotami suffered the death of her only child. Unable to accept it, she ran from person to person, seeking a medicine to restore her child to life. The Buddha was said to have such a medicine. Kisagotami went to the Buddha, and asked, "Can you make a medicine that will restore my child?" "I know of such a medicine," the Buddha replied. "But in order to make it, I must have certain ingredients." Relieved, the woman asked, "What ingredients do you require?" "Bring me a handful of mustard seed," said the Buddha. The woman promised to procure it for him, but as she was leaving, he added, "I require the mustard seed be taken from a a household where no child, spouse, parent, or servant has died." The woman agreed and began going from house to house in search of the mustard seed. At each house people agreed to give her the seed, but when she asked them if anyone had died in that household, she could find no home where death had not visited... Kisagotami was not able to find a home free from the suffering of death. Seeing she was not alone in her grief, she let go of her child's lifeless body and returned to tha Buddha who said with great compassion, "You thought that you alone had lost a son,...[but] among all creatures there is no permanence." (Dalai Lama)

What Kisagotami learned was that no one lives free from suffering and loss. It is a Universal experience, and through that knowledge, she was able to experience the connection to ALL.

Our Egos have one interest, and that is to make us feel special, unique, and to draw us personal attention. Your Ego strives to make you feel separate from others, because it can't be special, it can't succeed at this, if we're all ONE! The Ego is even thrilled with suffering and loss, because on some level even terrible experiences can be used to draw attention. Victimhood is the refuge of many. The "poor me" (James Redfield) control drama is a tried and true method for extracting energy from others.

There are other problems with SEPARATENESS. When we are under the illusion of separateness, we are alone. In aloneness we develop many strategies for dealing with suffering and loss. We ply ourselves with deadening chemicals and alcohol, and suffer even more from the damage we cause to ourselves and others. We utilize a host of psychological defenses, deadening our ability to feel anything, through repression and blocking. This leads to the inability to interact or connect with others. Think of how many marriages have been destroyed as a side-effect of this strategy! Some people load up their schedule with distractions, thinking if they keep busy enough they won't have to face any pain. Still others, unable to accept the Universality of their loss, use projection, and blame others for their troubles...

Connection will not remove the suffering and loss, but connection will help spread it out. Comfort comes naturally from ALL, when we let them in. Facing tragedy head-on and allowing oneself to fall into the arms of those surrounding you, is the path to acceptance, a path made easier to bear through the LOVE and sharing received in connection.

Today, be prepared to face any suffering head-on. Do not allow your Ego to keep you from the sharing and caring of or for others. BE connected. Allow yourself to feel LOVE from it when you experience loss. And BE loving to others in their time of trouble. We are ALL connected. WE are all ONE...

Duffy

When we see magic and beauty in things, the magic and beauty are really in ourselves...

When we see magic and beauty in things, the magic and beauty are really in ourselves...

It is also true that whan we see boredom and ugliness in things, the boredom and ugliness are really in ourselves...

Subjective reality is the only reality YOU know. Everything YOU have decided is true you have literally made up. (For an in-depth discussion read Steve Pavlina: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/05/subjective-reality-qa/)

Everything comes through you, through your senses. You take in this input and combine it with memories, attitudes, beliefs and editiorials you have accumulated, and you spit out YOUR interpretation of things. This is why people have different opinions. There is only one set of facts, but it is the memories, attitudes, beliefs and editiorials that shape your opinion. It is a fact that George W. Bush raised the debt by 115%, while Barrack Obama has only raised it by 16% through April/2011, but there are millions of people that would draw their swords and fight you to the death, before they would accept this. Why? Because they don't believe it to be so.

Reality is what YOU believe it to be. There is actually nothing "out there" unless you believe it. You are Consciousness, nothing more or less. But if you believe you are only a body with a mind, then that is your reality. If you believe in an objective Universe, then that will be your reality.

How does this manifest itself to us in our daily lives? What YOU believe to be true is what you will know. Beliefs are thoughts. Thoughts are creative, so "a belief is a statement about the nature of reality" (Pavlina). A belief then is a choice. YOU are choosing YOUR reality through it. You are free to believe anything, and it will be true for YOU, even if your choice is to believe you don't have a choice...

Some people are completely stuck, because they don't believe they can change their beliefs. THEY believe that things are fixed. THEIR fixed beliefs tell them that some things are ugly, wrong, stupid and a host of other negative judgments. But there is nothing ugly, stupid or wrong "out there." All of that is "in here." God is all things, including you. But if you believe you are separate from God, whether because someone told you so or not, that is YOUR reality. God is all things, therefore how could anything that is God, be ugly, stupid or wrong? How? Because you believe them to be, and YOUR reality is that.

Today, observe yourself pinning YOUR beliefs onto others and other things. Catch yourself labelling things according to your beliefs and recognize that there is no intrinsic value to them, only that YOU are assigning their value. YOU are projecting YOUR beliefs onto them. Allow yourself to change your beliefs, for when we see magic and beauty in things, the magic and beauty are really in ourselves...

Duffy

The kingdom of heaven is available right now...

The kingdom of heaven is Enlightenment: Awareness, Consciousness. It is available right now...

When Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is in you," he meant it, but not in the way it is typically defined today. It is not a place somewhere in the sky where some judgemental/vindictive/demanding God awaits to punish you after death. The "kingdom" is the state of enlightenment and the LOVE and PEACE experienced in that state. And, it is available to YOU right now, if you choose it.

Often times we hear references to the road to enlightement, the path to enlightenment, the way... These are simply metaphors for the journey from where you are presently, to the place of LOVE and PEACE called enlightenment. Some people are able to jump immediately from an unenlightened state to an enlightened one, as soon as they perceive it, but for most humans it is a gradual shift, a raising of one's Consciousness by degrees.

Let's talk about enlightenment and what it is, what it looks like. Enlightenment is a state of Awareness, of Consciousness. Many times Awareness is likened to an awakening, as if from a dream. We suddenly SEE as if a veil over our eyes had been lifted, allowing us to observe ourselves and the world in a manner that had been previously blocked. We experience flashes of understanding, in a way we had never imagined. Sometimes it BEgins when we hear a provoking thought. For some it comes from a passage in a book.  Others see it arrive though witnessing an enlightened act of kindness or compassion. It turns towards the light, and  we BEgin to seek this wonderful, ethereal quality.

We BEgin to see ourselves as a spoke on the wheel of the Universe, as simply a leaf floating down the river of life, as nothing more than a drop of spray, part of the whole Ocean. We see ourselves connected to all, to everything, no longer separate, no longer apart, but A PART of something much bigger than ourselves, a oneness. We realize we are ALL ONE...

Our Ego fights this. It needs to be special, and separate. Our culture fights this. It doesn't want us to experience the kind of independent awareness that we are connected to something larger than country, than capitalism, than political ideology. Our families, friends, religions, know the only hold they have on us is through the "convention wisdom", fears, prejudices, feuds and "shoulds," we have been spoon-fed from day one. For us to break out of that leaves them powerless over us. But once the ONENESS has been felt, experienced, the knowing that follows, points us in the direction, puts us on the path, and the journey towards enlightenment commences.

Consciousness BEgins to raise when we become aware of deeper selves, the self that is behind the Ego, behind the thinking mind. We start to observe ourselves, and BEcome aware of our conditioning and our identities. When we do, they BEgin to dissolve. We still experience negative emotions and states from time to time, but we now see ourselves doing it. We are able to observe ourselves and see when we are simply idenitfying with a role, following a script. The observation of ourselves and others in this way BEgins to remove the hold of these identities on us, and we subsequently move away from them and towards the connection to all. LOVE replaces fear. Allowing and acceptance replace desire, control and separation.

Today, simply watch yourself interact with the world. Observe what you say. Observe how you react to what others say. Notice when you are following a scripted role. You need do nothing more. The mere act of observing is all that is necessary. The Spirit in you will do the rest. The kingdom of heaven is available right now...

Duffy

Are you willing to experience Happiness?

If you want to experience happiness, you MUST give up those beliefs that are causing your unhappiness... Are you willing?

People are attracted to what exists in themselves. We have all been stuck in a long traffic jam, and complained about all the "looky-loos" and the "rubber-neckers," but when we finally go by we sneak our look too. We want to see the horror.

If you tune into the evening news and the content gets your blood boiling, YOU are contributing to your unhappiness. Yes YOU. Have you ever heard the news saying, "If it bleeds it leads?" Exactly... The people running the news know that you will tune in to what feeds the beast in yourself, hatred, bigotry, judgement, persecution, sex... Yet you continue to tune in, drinking in a steady drip, keeping yourself topped off with unhappiness...

When you spend your time feeling you're being constantly short-changed by OTHERS, stories that reinforce that make you angry. Stories about how your religion/race/class/beliefs are being persecuted cause anger with a little fear mixed in. When you are presented with evidence that your world is being eroded by illegal immigrants, liberals, atheists, minorities, gays, corporations, the wealthy etc., etc., etc., it strikes fear in you, and grief, and rage, and apathy, and in some cases even shame! These are all negative emotions, they are all negative levels of Consciousness.

Since 85% or more of people live below the 200 level of Consciousness (POWER vs. FORCE, by Hawkins), where 250 is the very beginning of the positive Consciousness, is it any wonder why the media is presenting stuff down there? Once again, people are attracted to what exists in themselves. It reinforces their feelings.

If you want to experience Happiness, constant reloading and replaying your own hatred loops is not going to do it. Pandering to thoughts of persecution, anger, shame, grief and apathy are only going to strengthen YOUR negative levels of Conciousness. You're not going to hear, "People are all basically good," "Everything in the Universe is perfect and going according to plan," "We are all God's children," "Cooperation is the natural existence for all mankind," or anything of the sort on TV. BUT, if you want to be Happy, they are exactly the kinds of thoughts YOU must BEgin to adopt. YOU must give up the beliefs that are making you unhappy if you want to experience Happiness...

Today, turn away from things that reinforce the negative beliefs in you. Turn off the TV, turn off the radio, turn off the negativity. Seek goodness. Search for people/events/experiences that increase your LOVE. Turn towards the light!

Duffy

The negative thoughts associated with judgment are not only attracting negativity in your life, but in everyone's life...

Avoid judgment. The negative thoughts associated with it are not only attracting negativity in your life, but in everyone's life...

What is judgment? Judgment is you believing you know more than God. Judgment is you deciding that the way of the Universe is incorrect, and that YOU know better.

The Evolution of the human species has resulted in a large variety of physical variations. Most of these variations are reactions to a specific climate. People that developed along the equator, faced longer and more intense sunlight. Is it any wonder that they might have developed more melanin in their skin? Or that they would have darker eyes to reflect away much of the brightest rays? As one moves away from the equator and towards the north and south poles, skin tone gets more pale (less melanin), until finally near the poles we have peoples that are white, almost translucent. And since these colder climes experience more low light cloudiness, their eyes developed colors that absorbed more sunlight to be able to see in the gloom... Now who are you to decide that one variation is superior to another? Was the Universe wrong, or are you?

The source of all this judgment is your Ego. In its need to be special and unique it is always fortifying the notion of being separate. It encourages decisions that reinforce separateness constantly. With this feeling of separateness comes the need to be superior, and judgment follows from that. Your Ego needs to judge in order to strengthen itself and its position of superiority. However, the minute you BEgin to see all others as the same as yourself, judgement dissolves and your Ego becomes unimportant. You Begin to see and react to life spiritually. The God in you expresses...

Why is this necessary? Just as positve thoughts attract one another and become more powerful as they do, so do negative thoughts. (All electrical impulses [thoughts] are surrounded by a magnetic field. As impulses align, the strength of their magnetic fields magnify.) When you have a negative thought it strengthens the power of the negative thoughts of others. Mass Hysteria is one example of what happens when negative thoughts are dangerously magnified. Fear is a negative thought that is contagious, because your fear-thoughts align with the fear-thoughts of others. Why do you think powerful people are willing to lose money on media outlets that "fear-monger?" Because the strength of the fear magnifies and can be manipulated for political gain.

God is all things. You are part of all things, therefore YOU are God...and so is everyone else! All things include all that is living, and all that is non-living. Because of this, WE are ALL ONE... When we BEgin to think, speak and act (thought, word and deed) like we are all one, all of our problems will disappear. When we BEgin to see en-masse, that what we do to others we do to ourselves, we will BEgin to BEcome an enlightened society, and live lives worth living... "Whatever you do to the weakest among you, you do to me."

Today, when you notice yourself judging, hold up and say to yourself, "This is me disagreeing with God, and with the Universe. Is this what I really want to be doing?" Recognize, that in judging, your Ego is trying desperately to seem special, and to be important. It is paramount to understand, that none of your judgments has any impact on the truth. But, through strengthening the negative thoughts of others, your negative thoughts strengthen the lies...

Duffy

Your "wake" is not the cause of where you are right now...

Your "wake" is not the cause of where you are right now, it is the result of all of your choices.  Set a course for happiness and get a different wake.

If you're going to set a course for Happiness, you need to know where it is, and how to get there. So where is it? It is everywhere, but only some people see it. We are very familiar with the fact that some people are not able to see. We refer to them as blind. Through no fault of their own, the physiology of vision doesn't function. We can use the same word for those who can't see Happiness, they are blind to it, however their blindness is self-induced, even if it is involuntary.

Let's begin with defining what Happiness is not.

Happiness is not based on what you do. However you define you career, from professional, to stepping-stone, or as a method to survival, what you do is not the source of Happiness.

It is also not based on what you have. There are millions who have everything money can buy, who are extremely unhappy. Conversely many people living in abject poverty can only find good things to say!

Happiness is not based on what others think of you. Your reputation is not you. What others think is tainted by their experience. It is said that nothing anyone can say about you can actually effect your character, and that nothing you can say about yourself can alter it either. Your character is defined by your actions alone and not opinions.

Happiness is not based on your identities of beliefs. You identify mostly with what your Ego tells you will make you special. Most of this is completely untrue. Likewise, most of your beliefs have been passed down to you by people who had then passed down to them. Neither you or them have ever examined these beliefs for truth... You just assume people who love you wouldn't lie. Your church, and your political party fill you with beliefs, beliefs which aid and abet their agendas. Your family and friends contribute to this too. All of your life they impress their agendas on you! When you heard constsntly, "A woman's place is in the home," or "Big boys don't cry," where was the truth? Plenty of unhappiness resulted though.

Finally, Happiness does not lie in your past, or in your future. It only exists right now. NOW, is your only opportunity to access happiness. Your past is only in your mind, and your perceptions completely color the facts. The future will exist, only as you make it happen right now.

How do we set course then, for Happiness. BEgin by questioning your judgements, and then dropping them or letting them dissolve. Your judgements about how things are supposed to be are blocking the bliss of living. Start fresh. Examine anew each moment, each event, and choose Happiness as your response. Stop holding on to identities that keep you from Happiness. Choose for yourself what is right for you. This isn't found in a book, or in dogma of any sort. YOU decide what works for you and where your Happiness lies...

Today, follow the words of my wife, "When two options are presented to me, neither of which can be proven to be false, I will choose the one that makes me feel better." YOUR Happiness lies in your ability to stop identifying with things that make you unhappy. Stop believing things that block the bliss. Set a course, that leaves the "wake" you desire...

Duffy

The statement, "I will be" is an admission that right now you are not...

The statement, "I will be" is an admission that right now you are not...

Think about that. How many of your thoughts about the person you want to BE are in the future? And when that future arrives, isn't the person you wanted to be still in the future? Doesn't it seem like the concept of who you want to be, moves forward as quickly as you can catch up?

Well here is the secret: The minute you change your concept of yourself, the events ahead of you in time are altered...

That's it.

As soon as you alter your concept of self, right now, all of your tomorrows are already changed. They will all revolve around the new you. And this is not a one time shot. Each time you improve your concept of yourself, that improved self, is the one in the events ahead of you in time.

Neale Donald Walsch expresses it, "The purpose in becoming human is to decide and to declare, to create and to express, to experience and to fulfill, Who You Really Are. To re-create yourself anew in every moment in the grandest version of the greatest vision ever you had about Who You Really Are."

What does this mean in practical terms? It means you do not have to BE according to your reputation. Others opinions have NO bearing on who you are. You no longer have to go along with the culturization of gender, church, country, region, ethnic background or family. If you think you are a "loser," then you are, but if you change that thought right now, and start believing you are a winner, you force the future to deal with you as a winner!

I am lovable!
People like me!
I am dependable!
I get things done correctly and on time!
I am a healthy person, I have a strong immune system!
I have all that I need everyday!

Imagine the events unfolding ahead of this person. This person is you. YOU simply have to change your concept of self, and the Universe must go along, because what you believe is true, IS TRUE!

Today, reject all that old thinking about yourself. Reject all the parameters that have been set for you by society, church and family. You are a spiritual BEing having a human experience. "Create yourself anew, in every moment, in the grandest version of the greatest vision ever you had about Who You Really Are!"

Duffy

True compassion is giving what the other person needs...

True compassion is giving what the other person needs, not necessarily what you want to give.

I have a friend who has been married for decades...unhappily. He believes he is giving more than he is getting and so does she. He gives her complete financial support and freedom, but what she really needs is acknowledgement that she is an equal partner, that what she brings to the table is just as valued as his money. She keeps and runs a beautiful home for him. She hosts wonder dinner parties, business and otherwise, but what he really needs is more intimacy. They buy 1100 thread sheets, but the bed is cold and empty.

Now, I'm not suggesting that they are not giving, because they are, but they are not giving what the other needs. She needs acceptance, and respect far more than she needs more money. And he needs loving far more than new furniture and drapes. Everything in their life looks from the outside like it is all fine and dandy, but the truth is they substitute alcohol for love to deaden their pain, and continue their dance of indifference...

So many relationships are like this. Each partner mentally counting up what they give and give and give, making sure they are giving what they perceive is enough, but neither giving what is truly needed. And then wondering what happened as they watch their eroded relationship turn to dust.

This occurs in other kinds of relationships as well. Some people are great at giving advice to their friends, but what the friends really need is for them to simply listen. The friend needs understanding! Many bosses think the weekly paycheck is a substitute for consideration, it's not. Employees need to work in an environment that allows them dignity, and would walk through fire for a boss that they know would never ask them to do something he would not do himself.

In all of these examples what is missing is true respect. In place, we have Egos, deciding that they know what is needed better than the person who is needing. I have often said, "I want to meet a woman who can figure out what I really need, how I really need to be loved, and then willingly give me that." Imagine the divorce rate if this was the norm. Imagine how all relationships would BE, if they proceeded with a similar attitude!

Today, watch the people in your life, lovers, friends, coworkers and even strangers that you meet. They will clearly tell you what they need, if you can get over yourself for a moment and pay attention to THEM more than yourself. Give them respect. Give them what THEY need, not what you want to give...

Duffy

Give negative people healing LOVE...

How do you handle negative people? Give negative people healing LOVE...

Recently I came across a discussion centered around how to deal with really negative people. A lot of the responses fell in to two camps, ignore them, your only duty is to work on yourself, and avoid them, spend time with more positive people. Neither of these resonates with me.

The basic concept of "Gaia" is that the whole world is one complex organism, with all parts, organic and inorganic, working together, regulating systems such as salinity of the oceans, oxygen in the atmosphere, temperature, and generally maintaining homeostasis, a balanced stability. I personally tend to think of the Universe in the same way, with all components working cooperatively.

Let's apply that thinking to humanity. Imagine that all of mankind is one organism, and each individual is a cell. Some cells contribute mightily to the growth of Consciousness and some cells are simply takers/users/abusers. To which cells do you think the Universal Consciousness is going to send resources? Assets and resources are sent to the cells that are the most important to the growth and well-BEing of the organism.

To take the metaphor a step further, imagine you injure a part of your body. When you stub you toe and it is bruised and bleeding, do you ignore it or avoid it? No, you care for it. You look at it and give it what it needs, cleansing, bandaging, with ongoing care and treatment until it is healed. You know it might take time, but you give the injury the best opportunity to heal fully.

You do this anytime a part of you is hurt, so why wouldn't you act similarly when a part of humanity is hurting? WE are all ONE. Anytime any of us are hurting, the whole is not healthy. You don't say,
"Oh, the hell with that finger, I have another whole hand full of them," so why would you act with indifference to your brothers and sisters who are hurting. Because of your Ego, which convinces you that you are separate, and that you only need to worry about yourself. Your Ego is reinforced by a culture that benefits from you thinking in this manner as well. When someone powerful is profitting handsomely through exploitation, it helps when YOU have bought into the, "It's not my problem," mentality.

Today, when you come across negative people, whether they are random meetings or people in your daily routine, recognize they are not APART from you, but A PART of you. Then, treat them accordingly. Give them your FULL attention. Care not only for them, but care about them. Give them love. Give them time. Your positive, loving example will give them the best chance to heal fully...

Duffy

Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or the last time.

Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or the last time.

We love to observe children experiencing something for the first time, a new flavor of food, or sky blue robin's eggs in a nest, or a line of ants marching from thar to far... Children are unabashedly blissful, they ooh and ah openly with wonder and awe at the miracles all around them.

A person who is dying, can marvel at the simple elegant beauty in the handwriting of a loved one, savor the taste of hospital jello as if it was French cuisine, or give blessed thanks when their sleep is interupted by noise, because in their broken sleep, they realize they are still alive. These people are not contrite about loving life. All of the pretense, the jaded hipness, the being cool, has been traded for the longing for another day, for another few minutes...

WE need to get back to the innocence of childhood wonder, or advance to the point of the thankfulness of our last day, or we are going to destroy the opportunity to experience either.

When crowds cheer the death penalty, scream that uninsured sick people should be allowed to die, when rich people are willing to lose millions on TV stations that spew fear and hate, because of political expediency, when people are encouraged to murder doctors that provide legal services, or politicians with whom they disagree,  or to deny the enormous damage being done to our "Garden of Eden" because ending it, might cut into profits...WE are doomed.

Where has our spirit gone?

WE have put it on the back-burner.

Our Egos, in their desperate need to be superior, have us identifying with groups that we think will improve our standing in the community, our ability to accumulate wealth, even at the expense of others (MANY others), and to maintain political control, that guarantees WE stay on the side of the HAVES, no matter how many have-nots WE create. AND, we have become consumed with fear. WE are so afraid of scarcity that WE continually set up walls keeping us from actually SEEing the horrors and damage WE are creating. WE as fearful people, desperately grab and clutch what we can, as the world seems to be collapsing around us, much as mobs in disaster zones when order beaks down, rush the supply trucks stepping on each other in an attempt to get MINE!!!

WE are ALL children of God. We are ALL born equally. No child is any less than any other until WE label them as less than us. When WE do this, it is OUR Egos deciding and striving to appear superior, to maintain membership in the "in" group. When WE do this WE are creating fear of the "out" group. Fear of the "out" group causes people to kill, maim, hate, manipulate, and even vote against their own interests, anything to gain membership in the perceived "in" group.

This has to stop. WE are ALL ONE...

Today, show courage! Say, "No," when asked to silently condone hatred, bigotry or fear-mongering. Stand up for ALL God's children. Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Shelter the homeless. Clothe the naked. Care for the sick. Give LOVE...

Duffy

The bliss of living is present even when we block it out...

The bliss of living is present even when we block it out with our judgements. Simply imagine how God sees everything and it will return...

I was recently texted by a friend, "If everything is as it's supposed to be, why am I alone? I don't want to be. So, why is my being alone the way it's supposed to be? Am I not deserving?"

There is no deserving or not deserving. Nobody deserves anything, no matter what they do. There is no law of fairness or unfairness. There is only WHAT IS. That's it. Now, if your view of life is one where you aren't getting what perceive you should be, then that is what you will experience, a life where you aren't getting what you should be. If you think you aren't getting what you deserve, then your experience will continue to appear to be so. It is your thinking that is causing this, not WHAT IS. Your reality is created by your thoughts. Simply changing your thinking, changing your expectations to ones where nobody deserves anything, will remove all of the suffering you experience from not getting what you think you deserve. It's that simple. When you walk outside your door and step on a swarm of ants, did the ants deserve to be killed? When lightning sparks a forest fire, do the trees deserve to die? If a woman can't have children does she deserve this? No. And if you happen to be alone it simply is what is...

What choices do we have about "WHAT IS?" The only choice available is how we think about things. If you focus on what you are wanting, and your thoughts are thoughts of wanting, then you will attract more of that, more wanting. Your life will be one where most of your time is spent from a place of dissatisfaction. Alternately if you change your thinking and BEgin to focus on what you are grateful for, you will attract more of that, and you will experience a life where gratitude, thankfulness and happiness will dominate.

Now I know some out there will say this is a bunch of New Age crap, but seriously, take all of the attraction stuff out and tell me that spending 80% of your time focusing on positive stuff versus 80% on negative stuff isn't going to make your life seem better? It comes down to subjective reality. YOUR reality is only in your own head. All that you experience comes through you (your five senses) to your brain, which mixes in your biases, opinions, attitudes and experiences, and out pops YOUR take on things. Pull the plug on your brain and NONE of that exists. Simply change your thinking and you will change your life. Have you ever seen how a near death experience can completely change a person's attitude? Or, have you ever witnessed how positive someone becomes when they have beaten an addiction? They have changed their thoughts, and their lives have changed as well. Their experience becomes one of gratitude, opportunities and contentment.

Today, when you see yourself start to ask why you don't have something, switch over to something you HAVE. Think of how awesome it is that you do! Everytime you begin to wallow in self-pity, pull yourself up to the awareness that it is only you that feels as you do. Simply imagine how God sees everything and you will see how fortunate you are to simply live, breathe, to BE...

Duffy

Don't contemplate what is missing from your life...

Don't contemplate what is missing from your life, feel enormous gratitude for what is on the way...

As I have stated before, thoughts are electrical impulses, which are thus surrounded by a magentic field. This means that thoughts attract like thoughts, much like magnets attract like magnetic fields. Have you ever turned around one of two magnets and felt how they repel each other? That is what happens to thoughts that are not alike. Similar thoughts attract each other.

How does this effect the subject at hand, what is missing from your life? The more you think about what you are missing, the more missing you you will get. You attract what your thoughts attract. Thoughts of what is missing, attract more missing... And yet you keep repeating the same broken formula!

The way to bring into your life more of what you desire is to remain as much as possible in a state of extreme gratitude for all the good things in your life, and for all of the wonders and splendors that are on the way! Thoughts of gratitude attract more of what you are grateful for, because thankful thoughts attract more thankfulness...the opposite of more wanting.

Here's how you begin. Whenever you find yourself feeling as if you're not getting enough, recognize that your Ego has set up a comparison, because it wants to be more special, more unique. It wants the recognition that comes with having MORE. Stop that right there. Put your Ego back on the shelf. How? By BEing grateful for something. Right then, if nothing else, BE grateful for life, focus on your breathing and how wonderful it is to simply BE alive, that you are a living breathing BEing. The more you repeat this the easier it will BE, and soon you will BE able to substitute other things/people/events that you are grateful for. This will eventually become habitual, you will BEgin to recognize immediately when you are about to compare yourself, your life, negatively to another's and move directly into gratitude.

Once you are there, living from a place of gratitude, more of the things that make you thankful will BEgin to appear in your life. You won't notice what you don't have, what you will experience is peace and thankfulness for what has shown up. When you desire something, hold the feelings of how grateful you will BE when it arrives. Focus your thoughts deeply on how wonderful your life is, and how wonderful it will BE,  and those thoughts will attract your desires and cause them to manifest in your life. And you will feel even more grateful!

Today, catch yourself, the moment you begin acknowledging what you don't have. Stop it! Put your Ego away. Don't allow even one ungrateful thought. Ungrateful thoughts undo grateful ones, they repel them. Some people call this the "Law of Attraction," but it is simply allowing the Universe to provide, by not disrupting it, not causing fits and starts with repelling thoughts. Breathe deeply and give great thanks for the simple opportunity to BE grateful...

Duffy

We're all God's children in any language...

We're all God's children in any language, in any color, in any religion...

The United States is not a Caucasian country, or an English speaking country, or a Christian country. There happens to be lots of white people, but there are lots of non-white people, and there are lots of colors mixed together too. Lots of people speak English, lots of people speak something else, and many people speak English AND something else. There is the Christian god and believers, there are lots of other gods and believers AND there are lots of non-believers. These are simply the facts, so when someone says this is a Christian country they are consciously or unconsciously stating something that is false. When someone states this is an English speaking country, they might desire this to be the case, but it is not. As to race, it is hard to imagine you could actually live anywhere in the country and still think this is a white country, if your eyes are open.

Approximately 72,000 years ago there was a bottleneck in human diversity. The cause is widely accepted to be the Mt. Toba volcanic eruption. Today, most people think Mt. St. Helens when they think of volcanic eruptions (no the volcano at the Mirage Hotel in Las vegas doesn't count). Mt. St. Helens for all its spectacular footage was a blip in volvanic terms. It erupted 1.2 cubic kilometers of earth. Krakatoa, by comparison, in 1883, spewed 21 cubic kilometers. In 1816, we humans experienced the year with no summer and tens of thousands of people in Europe and North America starved to death. This was the result of the eruption of Mt. Tambora, which blew 160 cubic kilometers of earth into the atmosphere and caused a worldwide drop in temperature and a "nuclear" winter for 3-5 years. Mt Toba, by comparison, 72,000 years ago erupted 2,800 cubic kilometers of earth into the atmosphere!

It is said that the climate changes and starvation associated with this super eruption caused the human population to plummet to as low as 1000 people and I've heard estimates as low as 35 breeding pairs... So like it or not, we ALL come from the same group. ALL people on Earth today are gentically 99.5% alike. There is a lot of variety of genetic expression, i.e., skin color, eye color hair color/texture etc., but the person standing next to you is YOU...

Why is this so difficult for people to accept this? It is because their Ego wants to be special, to be better, to be superior. Your Ego identifies with what it decides are superior groups, so it can feel superior. Being white, speaking English and being Christian are the top "Teams" in America, and its "fans" want to keep winning!!! In reality they are extremely fearful that the world is moving on past them, choosing different ways. They are desperately afraid of being out-bred, out-voted and out-moded. The horrific reactions against accepting the first black president in this country's history is example one.

Demographics move along regardless of Egos and fear. Someday soon the United States may be a brown country, or a Muslim country, or a Spanish speaking country. Why should any of this matter? WE are ALL ONE. WE are ALL the same. WE are ALL children of the Universe. It is only our Egos that cause us to think we are separate...

Today, when you witness diversity, accept it, love it, bring it into your heart. When you embrace fully the differences in us you will more fully realize how similar we are. Take the hands of all of your brothers and sisters, for WE are ALL FAMILY, and LOVE each other unconditionally...

Duffy

Loving thoughts are sensed by others...

Loving thoughts are sensed by others....so walk around loving...

The world is currently suffering from a terrible plague. Not one like the Black Plague of the 6th and 14th centuries, but a plague of character. All of the wonderful technological advances have not connected us, but have weakened us through spin, lies, and divide and conquer strategies. We have more options available to us than ever in history, and it is said that a young boy with a smart phone, living in the desolation of drought and war-torn Africa, has more information at his fingertips than President Clinton did in the Oval office. Sadly, we have been conditioned, by fear-mongers. We are filled with fear...

There are really only two emotions, fear and LOVE. Fear is the opposite of LOVE. All of the negative states of Consciousness: Shame, Guilt, Apathy, Grief, Addiction, Anger, and Pride are all actually FEAR based. When you are constantly told: illegal immigrants are taking your jobs, that Muslims want to kill us because they hate our way of life, that Liberals want your guns, that your unemployment has run out, that Gay-ness is contagious, that well-fare cheats are EVERYWHERE, etc.,etc., etc., is it any surprise that you dwell in the negative states? The fact is, people living in FEAR, can be more easily manipulated ("Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein).

There is nothing to fear. Everything is going eactly as it should be. Millions of people are walking around in a constant state of fear for nothing. It is said that God sends us nothing but angels, and this is true. Each person and event you observe gives you a clear opportunity to decide once again who YOU are in relation to them. They help you fine tune who you are. Instead of joining the, "Everybody's doing it," crowd, stand for LOVE, give LOVE, open your heart to LOVE...

Thoughts are electrical impulses in your brain. ALL electrical impulses have a magnetic field surrounding them. When electrical impulses are going in the same direction they magnify the strength of this magnetic field. This why when you wind a wire around a nail it becomes a powerful electro-magnet once it is energized. Thoughts are like that. They effect the magnetic fields of others' thoughts, attracting and repelling just as magnets do. A famous man once said, "Whenever two or more of you are gathered in my name..." This is what he was referring to. It is well documented that Mass-hysteria can cause individuals to act in ways that would be completely foreign to their normal selves. Once again the power of thought.

One time waiting in an airport terminal, I saw a guy that was obviously all worked up. You, I'm sure, have seen the type, all testosteroned-out, figeting,  grimacing, looking for an opportunity to strike out to ease their rage and frustration. I decided to send him loving thoughts. I sat right next to him, and focused my thoughts on loving him, supporting him, acknowledging his humanity, in a completely non-judgmental way. Within five minutes he turned to me and started telling me all of his troubles, how FEARful he was that he wasn't going to be able to live up to his commitments to his wife and take care of their family, etc. Such is the power of LOVE! When you are walking around with loving thoughts, people around you can sense it. Their level of Consciousness will raise just by BEing in your presence...

Today, LOVE everyone you come in contact with, whether it is the grocery store checker (or bagger), the immigrant struggling to speak your language (they are making a better effort to communicate than you are), the homeless person or the drunk. BE especially LOVING to those who are weaker than you. Do this not because you may gain something, do it because it will help create a better, more Conscious, LOVING world. Indeed isn't that the kind of world you'd like to inhabit?

Duffy

You get world peace through each person having inner peace...

You get world peace through each person having inner peace. Work on YOU and help us..

As long as YOU believe there are enemies there won't be peace. As long as there are people who YOU believe are beneath you there won't be peace. As long as YOU believe that others are doing things wrong and so are less deserving there will not be PEACE...

Acceptance of all things as normal and fine will put you on the road to peace. What is required for this state of BEing? You must realize the that there is no good and evil, that this kind of thinking is simply a duality. Good and evil are not separate things, they are the same thing, on the same continuum. YOU put in the divider between them. YOU also move this divider continually throughout your life to the location where your present understanding of good and evil currently resides. You may be surrounded by like-minded people, who mostly agree where the divider should be put, but ultimately YOU decide.

Nobody does anything outside of their personal frame of reference, outside of their worldview of right and wrong, so nobody is inherently evil. Hitler did nothing outside of his worldview, and in fact was supported by millions of like-minded individuals. His culturallization, his indoctrination, his experiences created his worldview, just like yours creates YOURS. Until you begin to see others as all normal and fine, as people just like yourself, ALL children of God and doing their best within their own worldview there will no peace. Indeed, until everyone sees this there will be no peace. Everyone says they want peace, peace, WORLD PEACE! But, they don't want to give up their ideas about who and whom are good and evil, right and wrong. The truth is nobody is evil, nobody is wrong, these are simply your opinions according to YOUR worldview.

If you have abdicated your opinion to some country, church, career, political party, ideology, region or family, you will adopt the positions of these entities to some degree. Some do to a great degree, and some to a lesser. The degree of adoption is personal. Two people raised in the same family, that go to the same church, that vote for the same people, that live in the same country, can have dramatically different views. In fact, they may agree on something one day and later disagree, not only because one of them changed their worldview (where the divider is placed), but often, because both of them have changed!

Religious people typically have extreme views on right and wrong, good and evil. I was once told by my landlord that I was going to hell because I didn't agree with his choice of a political candidate. He blatantly stated that my position was against God's law. I asked, "Which God, yours?" He said "God, there is only one."

Trust me, there are more than one. But, your denomination CAN'T allow you to believe that! How would they maintain control of where you place the divider between good and evil? How would they maintain political control of you? Financial control of you?

The way out of this is to BEgin to see that God is indeed everywhere, that God is ALL THINGS...including you. Every person on the Earth is equally one of God's children, given free will to choose what he/she believes. They all live within the framework of their own worldview, no matter have much that worldview differs from your own. Peace will only come from dissolving the good/evil duality. YOU must dissolve this yourself.

Today, when you see/hear someone railing about some evil, put yourself in the shoes of the evildoer. As hard as it may be to overcome your conditioning, attempt to see where that person is coming from, and allow and accept that they are living from their own worldview, and not doing anything wrong. Work on YOU and help US...

Duffy

People experience contextually...

People experience contextually. If you are living in a negative state of concsciousness, that's what you will see in events and others...

The state of your life reflects the state of your mind. If you live in a state of frustration, that's what you will experience in others. If you think those in power are inherently evil, then that is how you will see events, how things will appear through your lens. You're actually experiencing fear and anger when you say, "They're all a bunch of crooks, the whole lot of them!" Anger and fear are negative states of Consciousness. Were you residing at Courage, the beginning of positive Conscious levels, you would see the world differently, not as a victim. You'd say instead, "We can make a difference, I can make a difference!"

All around you, you hear, "Life sucks and then you die," or "Nothin' ever gets better does it," or "The bread always lands butter side down." There is a whole set of similar sayings under the umbrella Murphy's Law. Why is it that we feel more comfortable repeating negative sayings than positive ones? How is it we have developed a system of casual interaction where we are feel a negative comment is more likely to be well received than a positive one? When we are asked, "How you doin'?" why do we feel, "Well I'm sure I can find something to complain about," is appropriate, but an upbeat, simple response "Great! Life is awesome, isn't it!" is somehow acting like you're better than everybody and rubbing it in?

This is a serious state of affairs we have allowed to develop. It says volumes about our culture, that we are more comfortable, and that we fully expect a better reception from a negative comment than a positive one. Commiseration has become the norm. This presents a problem in that it reinforces negative levels of Consciousness. Simply agreeing with it, going along in an attempt to get along, brings YOU down to that level...

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Read that again please, YOU are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. So, if you want to live a positive existence, surround yourself with positive people. You can't see other people and events positively if you are living in a negative state of Consciousness, so you must raise your level of Consciousness if you are to experience things from that place. Surrounding yourself with people who are at those positive levels will raise yours because their positive reactions will effect your outlook. And as your level of Consciousness rises, you will BEgin to positively effect those coming from a negative place.

When I ask my son, "How's it going?" he always responds with, "I'm living the dream!" This never fails to elicit a smile from me. I've BEgun to adopt it for myself. When given the choice to play it safe and be well-received through acknowledging a negative attitude, and so reinforcing the negative, or to possibly lift the spirit of someone through responding from the Consciousness level of Courage, I choose to follow my son's example.

Today, when you get into an elevator, or approach a gathering around the water cooler, prepare yourself in advance. Get ready for the inevitable questions, and tell them you're LIVING THE DREAM!

Duffy

Nurture gratitude...

Nurture gratitude. You will grow a garden of incredible inner peace...

People grow gardens of incredible variety. The Earth has a multitude of climates, each presenting opportunities and caveats. The caveats are just like the parameters of your life, your age, your finances, your physical health, but mostly your attitude. The opportunities are blessings, just like the ones in your life. Some people can take the smallest little plot of land, a space most wouldn't even notice, and make it into a graceful creation of exquisite beauty. They balance color, compostiton and design, waterfalls, ponds, big flowers, with delicate mosses... How are they able to accomplish this? Because they are GRATEFUL to have the space and make the most of it.

Your life is like a plot of land in much the same way. Some people have very large plots, with rich soil, a healthy climate, and unlimited resources. Most people have something less. Drive down any street and you can see one yard is well manicured with the sidewalk swept, next to one with dead cars and old living room furniture fighting with the weeds for supremacy. Whatever we have, some make the most of it, and turn it into a stunning thing of beauty, and some let it go to seed... Most of us fall somewhere in the middle, doing just enough to satisfy those around us, or starting and stopping in fits and gasps.

We would all love to enjoy a lush, fertile existence, but we either don't know how or we're too busy to maintain our own garden. There are some poor souls that are so downtrodden and filled with apathy that they don't even notice.

What can we do? Begin by cultivating an attitude of THANKFULNESS. Everyone, in my opinion, has things to be thankful for. Your job may be unfulfilling, or low paying, but at least you have a job. You may only have Top Ramen for dinner but at least you're eating. You may feel "Old and In the Way," but you're still able to contemplate, congregate, and consumate. And for those who think they have nothing to be grateful for, BE grateful that you may learn from your challenges. Every challenge BEcomes an opportunity in this way.

Today, take 2-3 minutes, close your eyes and give thanks for the things in your life you are grateful for. Say "Thank you" when someone does something nice, no matter how small, and mean it too. Reach out to a friend or loved one, and tell them how thankful you are to have them in your life. BE thankful for challenges, they help build strength and character. BE grateful for your mistakes, they provide valuable life lessons, and are steps on the staircase of wisdom. BE grateful when you are tired and weary, for your effort has made a difference. Nuture your garden...

Duffy

Nobility is not about being better than anyone else...

Nobility is not about being better than anyone else. It's about striving to be better than you used to be...

Why do people stop trying to be better? Or good even, and when? Does it happen the first time we tell a lie and get away with it, or the first time we steal? Maybe it is after we first get caught and get off, that we realize we have the ability to lie and steal with impunity. It could simply be that one day when we're young, and have still been making the daily effort to live an honorable life, we decide after witnessing countless lies and endless theft around us, to give up the honorable life. After all, why should we be the only "saps" that aren't getting ahead? Yup, one day we simply decide give up on honor...

We know this isn't right on some level, but we decide in our greed that we deserve more than honor is providing. We say, "Everyone else is doing it," and we call those still maintaining their honor "squares," or "losers." We do feel badly about our "fall from grace," we do think of ourselves as sinners, but we rationalize that "greasing palms" is what makes the world go around. We didn't invent this. We need to, "Go along to get along."

This simply isn't true...

In the movie "Rob Roy," Liam Neeson's character, Robert Macgregor, is asked by one of his young sons what honor is. He answers, "It is a gift a man gives to himself, and one that no man can take away." This one line sums it up. In a world filled with treachery, and so filled with deceit that it sometimes feel like the Earth itself is moving underfoot, nothing can keep you from acting honorably, except you, except yourself.

Within the concept of Normative Ethics, which establishes a baseline for what is considered a normal moral character, lies Virtue Ethics, defined as: "The individual should choose for his/her own personal inward behavior (character) rather than the individual relying solely on the external laws and customs of the person's culture" (Gowdy). However, from our external laws and customs we learn OUR sense of the word Virtue. In today's world, that sense almost entirely means a duty towards others, to our country, to our familes, to our cultural demands. But, to the Ancient Greeks, Virtue was something else, it was an ideal, not to be followed, as in a set of fixed cultural norms, but as a duty to oneself. "Good" was not rigid, not set in stone, but something to strive for, an ideal that couldn't be reached, but an immortal truth that made you greater simply through the striving...

Nobility is about striving to be better than you used to be... Dogs are truly noble. It's why we love them. They never fail in their nobility. WE don't have to either. BEing noble does not mean being perfect. It means never faltering in our personal ideals. It means holding ourselves to a higher standard, always trying to improve. Nobility is reaching for an unreachable goal, knowing that our effort alone makes us better...

Today, don't follow the crowd. Look into the eyes of each spirit you come across and strive to give them the best of yourself. BE the person you would love to meet. BE the person you would love to have next to you in life...

Duffy

Concepts condition you, and color your reality...

Concepts condition you, and color your reality...

Concepts are mental versions of labels. They act, however, in the same way. They freeze a thing. They create a snapshot of a person, place or event in a way that is unchanging, unevolving and unadapting. Most of us have seen an overhead projector used, where one transparency was overlaid on top of another. Concepts are like a transparency, a layer put over something which alters its meaning. The info of the original layer is blocked, filtered, and colored in such a way as to change its meaning. In such a way, our conditioning blocks, filters and colors reality and prevents us from experiencing it clearly, unaltered, sans our transparency.

I happen to be in St Louis visiting family. St. Louis, where the wide Mississippi River flows. To a child seeing the river for the first time it is an awe-inspiring sight, something otherworldly, something wild, running free. The child asks what it is. "A river," we say. From that moment on the child can never experience it in the previous way. It is now something that can be taken with the child, kept in his/her box of definitions, to be taken out and examined on a whim. The child now owns the word, as well as the concept associated with it.

But what is this river? Is it the water? The water keeps changing, so it can't be the water we are referring to. Is it the location? An earthquake could alter its location for miles. Is it the shape? The shape is constantly changing along with the depth, the color and clarity of the water. In fact, none of what the child saw when the concept was initiated remains ...except the concept...

We do this with everything. We carry concepts around with us, and use them whenever they are convenient. They are easier to use and take less effort than FRESH experience. Unfortunately, they keep us FROM fresh experience. By applying concepts to things we are free to focus on what our Ego decides is important, to focus on cravings, desires, or to add energy to our apathy, shame, guilt, hatred, pride or anger. Real experience requires wonder, causes awe, brings Joy, Peace and LOVE... and we're much too busy to take the time for any of that. What is sad, is concepts keep us from reality, from living.

Where this manifests itself very clearly is one's concept of God. Take a child as early as possible, as soon as it begins to understand language and begin brain-washing him/her as to "God in Heaven" who will PUNISH you for your sins. God will sit in JUDGEMENT, and if you don't measure up you will burn in the fires of Hell FOREVER!!! And, you MUST believe that ours is the ONLY true God, and everyone else is going to Hell that believes in a different one. And you were born in SIN! And if you don't accept the belief that a man born 2600 years ago, or 2000 years ago, or 600 years ago, is God, you can't go to heaven. You will not be SAVED from Hell... Burn Baby...! Do ya' think this might create a concept? It creates a concept of God that keeps you from eperiencing God, except through this transparency, this indoctrination that has filled you with such fear that for most people, even considering an alternative causes them to cringe in fear.

But that is exactly what you must do to experience God. Most of the great mystics have said as much. Even the great Saint Thomas Aquinas said we must lose God to find him. And he is a canonized SAINT!

All of these "concepts" condition your reality with programming. You see yourself through the eyes of others, through the lens of your career, your identities with church, political party, nationality, etc., etc., etc. ALL of these can change as easily as the water in the river. And when they do, has the real YOU changed? No. So why do you filter your experience with concepts and conditioning, with filters and transparencies?

Today, BE present. Look at things as a child would. Feel the awe, experience the wonder. Don't analyze, don't label, don't judge. When your concepts arise, allow them to dissolve, as a wave dissolves words scratched in the sand. BEcome aware. Reality can only BE experienced through awareness, awareness, awareness...

Duffy