Tag: The Global Conversation

  • Can I choose love instead of fear?

    There is more love around.  I can feel it.  Or is there more love in myself?

    Love and joy have no upper limit. You can carry only a certain amount of hatred, sadness and grief inside you, because at some point they will all change into love. This will happen either during this life or the next one. Universal love is infinite freedom. It is freedom to choose and to learn from one’s own choices.

    You are never alone. You are always accompanied by love which manifests itself in different energies and forms of life. What you feel and perceive is different from what reality is. Your feelings and perceptions are but partial truths. The more you manifest love, the more you will feel and perceive yourself to be part of a whole, which is a good deal greater than the world you are living in.

    There is much more love in the world than what is usually thought. People would be able to live in a much greater love for themselves, each other, nature and the whole planet if the distorted structures in our societies all over the world did not limit and suppress the expression of love.

    Someone says that we are living in a loveless world. I say that we are living in abundant love. It is a different thing than whether we are able to discover and recognize the abundant love in ourselves. We are living in a world of illusions. The value system around us may rather be more destructive than loving. We are being sold self-esteem without love. Our yearning for love is appealed through our self-esteem.

    Commercials and advertisements make us feel unhappy unless we acquire this and that. Those that we call  charity organizations may say, ”Buy yourself a good feeling, donate for charity.”  Love has been turned into merchandise. Yet love is free of cost. We can show love and radiate love around us all the time, and totally free of charge. If you saw the impact of love energies, you would understand their power. The spirit is stronger than matter.

    Joy is free.

    Joy is love.

    Joy is in your attitude.

    The more you feed joy and love, the more you will be them. This must happen unselfishly, without compulsion or artificiality. The world is full of pretension, smiles and promises which are not real. The world is also full of honesty, smiles and being which are real. You must recognize them in you and in others. You must recognize yourself. Do you know yourself?  Many think that they recognize themselves, their expectations and needs although they only recognize the needs and expectations that the environment has
    created for them.

    Can you distinguish real love from market values? You can if you only want to. Can you distinguish between desire and love? For love is much more of the attitude “how I love” rather than “how I am loved.”  The need to be loved has prevailed for too long over expression of real love in humanity. All kinds of means for being loved have been and are being used.  People do things, buy products, and choose attitudes in order to be loved.

    In the course of history many distorted attitudes have become generally accepted laws and patterns of behavior. The world is so full of these norms restricting love and freedom, rites and attitudes that an individual who expresses love may seem as unfit for the society…because love and freedom are one.

    When we express love, we are free. There is no wrong in love. Real freedom is absolute love. The notion of freedom as well as that of love is distorted in our world. There are attempts to buy and attain both of them in ways that are nothing but delusion when compared with real love and freedom. In the most extreme case, nations think that they can buy freedom by reinforcing their armed forces. In doing so, are they imagining that they are buying love, too? For freedom is love. Freedom attained through life-destroying methods is dependency and fear. Fear is a challenge for reaching real love. Love has no fear. How could love have fear because love is eternal, infinite power and wisdom? Infinite love, infinite wisdom, and infinite power are in you. So why would you be afraid?

    Fear is not in you. It is in the societal, social and economic structures. Fear is energy which maintains these structures. These structures are so distorted that they are sustained by life-destroying energies. They are antiquated energies which are having their death struggle, when at the same time life-constructing energies of love are manifesting themselves ever more widely.

    (Timo Teide is an artist, author, and spiritual guide who lives in Finland.  He has had dozens of art exhibitions and he has done meditative music and books about love. The healing power of art and the multidimensional impact of colors, forms and sounds are the most important elements of his art. Visit: www.teidegallery.com. Contact Timo: timo.teide@gmail.com.)

     

  • Happy Birth Day

    If today was your Birth Day, the first day of your life on earth, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

    What would you change?

    Today, December 21, 2012, may hold significant meaning to you.  Or perhaps it may just be like any other day, holding no more meaning or significance other than the fact that it is Friday, marking the end of a long workweek, simply the day before the weekend.

    To me, this day represents opportunity.  Whether we embrace this day as one of importance or not, the opportunity is still presenting itself to us to create and recreate our idea of who we are according to and in alignment with our next-highest thought and next-highest vision.   We can choose to step into that opportunity…or not.

    It really is as simple as that.

    Perhaps this day is a symbol of the space between “what once was” and “what is yet to come,” a realm where everything is fluid and free, expanding and contracting, undecided and willing, hopeful and perfect….a pristine representation of the Glorious Moment of Now.

    Maybe today reflects that moment we experience at the end of our exhale, just before our body begins to inhale another breath, a brief glimpse of nothing needed, nothing wanted…the stillness in our beingness, the peacefulness in our completeness.

    Perhaps today will mark the end of life as we know it, but not in the way we have been coerced into believing.  Within the space of our next choice, we could put an end to many of the conditions in our world which interfere with each and every person’s ability to experience joy and freedom and love and companionship and prosperity and comfort.

    Some people think the opposite of love is hate.  However, the opposite of love is not hate.  The opposite of love is indifference.   For me, December 21, 2012, symbolizes a return to love, a return to the essence of who we really are.

    Am I standing in the light of my own truth?

    How am I showing up in my relationships?

    Why am I right here…right now?

    How may I serve?

    This particular date has received a lot of attention, but we don’t have to wait for a particular day or month or year to create change.  We can do so within the infinite number of Birth Moments in our lives.   As Conversations with God offered to us, “The deepest secret is that life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation.  You are not discovering yourself, but creating yourself anew.”   

    Birthdays are days to celebrate.  And birthdays are often a time to give and receive gifts.  So today I celebrate our collective birth and offer my presence as my gift so that each and every person I encounter shall have an opportunity to return to love and to know and experience God.

    Happy Birth Day.

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation.  She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team atwww.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.

  • 2012 – what is the hype about?

    As I sought guidance to write my first article for Global Conversation, the answer came:  Write about 2012.

    Yes, 2012! Movies have been made, Prophecies written, YouTube videos recorded, and Facebook statuses consistently updated for 2012, a year that seems to have baffled, engaged, and intrigued most of the world in one way or the other.

    Beside those who are on a conscious spiritual journey and are somehow sensitive to the energetic shifts that seem to be occurring almost in every part of the world in a subtle or not such a subtle manner, 2012 has grabbed attention of even those who are not on a spiritual journey per se, as if there was ever such a thing.  And we know there isn’t, whether our egos allow us to admit this or not.  We are all on a spiritual journey, living this dream, wanting to believe it is real, or make-believing it to be real, so that we are able to experience it as fully as possible and engage in it with all our resources and faculties.

    2012, however, for most of us has been a sudden waking up from that dream and almost rising above it a little to observe and witness the dream as one would a valley from a cliff top.

    So what is this hype about?

    What is happening here, right now?

    What are we experiencing?

    Why are we all feeling this strange-weird feeling that we are not in our bodies, as if we are walking a few inches above the ground?

    Why is it that some people have managed to attain remarkable breakthroughs with their new ventures, and some other equally spiritually minded people (or more) with great intentions have stumbled upon roadblocks?

    Why are we feeling fearful or angry as we have never felt before?

    Why are we feeling this disdain for putting up with old systems and old mindsets?

    Why do we, more than any other time, want people to hear us out, really hear us out?

    Why do we really feel like expressing ourselves in ways we have never done before, and as truthfully as ever?

    Why do some of us feel like leaving — for those who haven’t already done so — our old jobs and do something we never thought we could?  For example, setting up a rainwater harvesting plant?

    Why have some of us released old relationships, partnerships, or even switched friends to a whole new set?

    Why are some of us suddenly being drawn towards spiritual texts and mentors?

    Why are we suddenly feeling as if we know more than we would like to admit to others or ourselves?

    Why have some of us begun having visions of spiritual figures or feel spiritual presence around us, even if we have never meditated before?

    Why do some of us suddenly feel our life work has not even begun, even though we haven’t quite figured out what it is?

    Why have some of us suddenly become conscious of human rights, animal rights, and even rights of nature as if it was a living, breathing entity — which it is — something we previously paid little attention to?

    Why do some of us feel drawn towards contributing more and more towards betterment of environment and children?

    Why are we becoming more aware of the futility of the goods money can buy?

    Why are we suddenly moving away from traditional religious concepts as if it is not enough and there is more to it, as if some information has been withheld and as if we are the holders of the very information that has been withheld from us?

    Why do some people have dreams of flying?

    Why are we finding ourselves unable to put up with other people’s deceit or why are we able to see clearly through other people’s intentions and their thought process?

    Why are some of us more sensitized to crowds or certain kinds of media or even a lifestyle that we previously enjoyed?

    Why are we feeling this urge to change our diet or for some people to go fully vegetarian or vegan?

    Why are some of us feeling as if we have some special powers, something indefinable that we can’t yet place a finger upon?

    Why do some of us feel as if we want our rightful place under the sun?

    Why do some of us have this urge to enter politics or be a social activist?

    Why have some of us initiated our spiritual meeting groups without much formal training?

    Why have some of us begun to see some colors at times, colors that are mostly invisible to the physical eye, but we are still able to see them?

    Why do some of us have heightened extrasensory perceptions?

    Why do some of us feel a sense of despair, a feeling of fatigue, back pain, fever, as if our whole emotional, energetic, and physical system is undergoing a long overdue renewal?

    Why are some of us getting more emotional or are able to feel other people’s emotions?

    Why are some of us going through relationship challenges, professional and personal challenges, and are being forced to make life changes we never imagined we would have to prior to this?

    Why are some of us feeling an urge to reconnect with estranged family members or rekindle old forgotten friendships?

    So many things seem to be happening all at once.  For some it is releasing old wounds of pain and fear. For some it’s a walk of courage and realizing the power of love. But changes seem to be occurring. Almost everywhere we look, there appears to be a swift or a subtle change underway. This change is of the consciousness, of subtle knowingness inside of us, something deep within us is shifting right now, or already has, and it is reformulating our world at cellular and global structural level. Nature is making her voice heard, too.

    And where this change is being resisted, there is a breakdown that will eventually forcefully usher in the change nevertheless, sooner or later. Despondency is in the air right now, but there is also a sense of excitement, exuberance, rejuvenation, warding off old and nihilism, even if it underscored by a sense of fear, chaos, and confusion.

    Fear and struggle often precedes big change and BIG LOVE.  Fear is always present when we are moving forward and upward.  It is scary, far too scary, when we are trying to move and rise against the gravitational forces and inertia that is constantly striving to pull us down and backward, with our ego often whispering to us, we do not need to take the plunge as there is lot of hard work involved.

    It is even scarier when the inertia is caused by old systems and prevalent ways of thinking – the comfort zone.  And there comes a time when comfort zone is comfortable no more, and this is when we are forced to embrace the impending change.

    However, the heart always knows.  It knows that it is in the embracing of what it is fearful of will it ever only truly live. And this is what 2012 is all about:  Big Change and Big Love.

    2012 marks the beginning of a new era in the history of the world. It marks the beginning of a new consciousness to emerge on the planet.  Old systems will slowly begin to give way to new systems. And old ideologies will be replaced with new and refreshing thought leadership, be it in politics, economics, society or philosophy.  An age of ascension it is being called.  And this would be an ascension of consciousness, of spiritual awareness, intentions, of actions, of ideas, of ways of living, and eventually creating a New World, a world that would be inclusive, kind, compassionate, loving and finally peaceful. But this would not occur overnight or in a blink of an eye. It will take some work. And most of this work is being done right now. A lot of spiritual energy is pouring into Earth right now.

    Transformation is underway. Churning has begun at individual and, more importantly, at a collective level. Some of it might be difficult and some of it will flow naturally and seamlessly. It will involve fear and chaos, and finally, it will require courage to mitigate that fear.

    Chaos will eventually give way to clarity. It will take love, a LOT OF LOVE, and finally, it will take the POWER OF LOVE to conquer and pervade all.

    And most importantly, it will take a tacit realization on part of humanity that at end of that day we are all but a miniscule part of the same divinity. The essence of the experience is the same, while its expression might be different.  No one is more privileged than the other.  Karma (of intention, action or inaction) is the only thing that matters. Destiny is a variable. Love is everything. Nothingness is the only truth.

    2012 is the beginning of this new world.

    Hold on to your seats and grab a seat belt. We might be passing through some areas of turbulence. 

    (Mani Goel is an author, healer, artist, teacher and filmmaker who resides in India and Hong Kong. Her first book is titled “Angel’s Wisdom For Your Life- Part 1.”  A former flight attendant, Mani embarked on a conscious spiritual journey after a severe back injury and a chance and serendipitous encounter with a revered Buddhist Rinpoche. She went to set up two companies- Mani Healing and Maaya Productions, and published her first book, with many more works in progress, including the autobiography of her Buddhist Guru through his several reincarnations – to be published in Hindi.  Mani Healing is a spiritual enterprise that aims to bring and present spiritual and healing wisdom to people in a non-dogmatic and non-ritualistic manner.  She regularly teaches and holds workshops and talks. As a natural healer she specializes in intuitive readings and spiritual healings for serious ailments.)

  • I am in need of such help right now.

    I am reading WECCE, and I am in need of such help right now. I am full of anxiety, fear, and loneliness for the first time in my life. During the past 2 months, my best friend moved away, my boyfriend, who I loved dearly, broke things off.  Then last week my dog was killed.  I know in my heart and soul that I am supposed to be going through these changes, but I’m having such a hard time letting things go. I built my life for two 1/2 years around my boyfriend.  I have lived alone in several cities with job transfers, etc. And I LOVE where I am living now, and I thought I had met someone with so many interests. I had some of the best times in my life with this person, but he could not give me the spiritual support and move on to build a future with me.  I completely lost and disliked myself.  I KNOW of all this, so why is my heart just clinging to everything?  Why can’t I feel ANY joy in anything I do or see?  I try and try to see the beauty in my home, in nature, in ALL things that brought me such great joy. I just want to let everything go..let go of the pain, let go of the wondering of how I manifested this all. I never imagined I would feel such loneliness – ever.  

    I know my pain will heal and I will feel (and eat) normally again. I will continue to pray and meditate to love myself more. Here it comes…BUT…loving yourself when you are BY yourself is pretty easy (I think), as I have lived alone quite a bit in my life.  The big test comes when you are joined with someone else. I have been emotionally unavailable and feared intimacy ALL my life – hence why I have attracted men that are the same. I want to do everything in my power to change that. How do I know when I’m really ready?  And to really know that my subconscious is going to attract someone that will be good for me?  Do I trust my feeling?  How do I lose the fear? I would appreciate any help….

    C.D.

    Dear C.D.,

    WECCE is about how to embrace Change (another word for God/Evolution), and how to choose how we live in that change.  Part of that process involves looking at our current Truth.  What version of that truth are we living?  Most of us are living in distorted truth.  We can, however, move pretty easily to apparent Truth by simply reframing it with no judgment.  For instance, “My boyfriend broke things off” could merely be “My boyfriend is not with me anymore. ”  “I completely lost and disliked myself” could be “I was not being who I really am in the relationship.”  Even “I can’t feel any joy” could be transformed with “I am experiencing a lack of joy right now,” which would easily allow you to experience the lack of joy with Gratitude, because you know it is only what you are feeling right now, not something that has to go on forever…unless you choose to let it go on forever.

    For every negative thought, there is the opposite positive one.  Look for these opposites, C.D., as you re-train yourself.  It takes practice!  If you are even reaching out, it means that you are beginning to do just that…practice being good to yourself!  Negativity is definitely not good for you or anyone else.

    Take a good look, and you will see your post is all about the past!  This has nothing to do, ultimately, with now…unless you allow it to be.  In reading WECCE, you will have read that this is all past data.  This past data came from many sources, all of which thought that they were protecting you in some way…and all of which were subconscious, and controlled by the ego.  The ego is the part of you that defines you as human, as an individual human, but, nonetheless, is also the part of us that operates out of fear.  This fear is designed to keep us in the familiar and actually stop us from moving into what is truly our better selves.  Fear holds us in place in the now, not in the manner of being present, but from the place of looking back and avoiding looking and moving forward.

    Life, as they say, begins at the edge of your comfort zone…and your comfort zone is fear.  Why do you wish to live your life in fear?  It is serving you in some way?   Since all we do serves us.  Do you get to define yourself as the person who is emotionally unavailable?  or the person who is fearful of intimacy?  In some way, this has served you, but do you wish it to continue to serve you?  Yes, we can choose to love what the past has shown us (in this case you know intimately what fear and unavailable feel like and how you are when you embrace them) and actually choose to be the opposite of that!  This is a world of context, of opposites, and if you know one thing, you are now very well able to know the other…if you choose to remember.

    I would take the “gut” test when you have a thought.  Your tummy will tell you if you are coming from fear or love.  Ask yourself why you even feel you have to have someone in your life right now.  How does the answer feel?  Look in the mirror and look into your eyes and very quietly tell yourself you love you…and keep doing it.

    The first time I read in CWG the part about saying out loud, “I love sex or money or…” and then it asked me to say loudly, “I love me!” I found it amazing that I was unable to say that without hesitation.   Wow!   And I am a pretty self-confident person, so I knew if it was difficult for me, it must be almost impossible for others.  I was okay with all of it, but not the unabashed loving of myself!

    C.D., not only can you tell yourself you love yourself, I would like to tell you something else…you are love!  Just by being here, you have demonstrated that you are love!  By writing this note, you have shown you can overcome fear, which is a supreme act of self love.  How wonderful is that?

    Be gentle with yourself and be proactive…choose!   You are choosing Change right now, actively, because passivity has not served you well.  Way to go!

    Therese

    (Therese Wilson is a published poet, and is the administrator of the global website at www.ChangingChange.net, which offers spiritual assistance from a team of Spiritual Helpers responding to every post from readers within 24 hours or less, and offers insight, suggestions, and companionship during moments of unbidden, unexpected, unwelcome change on the journey of life. She may be contacted at Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

    (If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com, where our team is waiting to hear from you.)

     

  • Thanks for nothing, God

    As we once again find ourselves on the threshold of the Thanksgiving holiday, the season of gratitude, I want to thank God for everything in my life that is wrong, for all the things in my life that I have either lost or never received, and for all the outcomes that did not turn out right.

    …I want to thank God for the relationships that are no longer a part of my reality in the way they once comfortably were, for the friendships and lovers who transitioned out of my life and moved in new directions, and for the encounters with my Brothers and Sisters on Planet Earth that were less than pleasant and far from an experience of Oneness.

    …I want to thank God for the money that is not in my bank account.  I feel especially grateful for having to give up some of the things in my life I truly enjoyed because I could no longer afford to pay for them.

    …I want to thank God for the moments in my life when I felt alone, as though nobody understood me or even cared, the moments where the silence in the room echoed loudly, the colors of life were drained of their vibrance, and time stood dreadfully still.

    …I want to thank God for the professional promotions I did not receive, the career opportunities I was overlooked for, and the jobs I was matter-of-factly asked not to return to.

    …I want to thank God for the aches and pains in my physical being, the nights where I am plagued with insomnia, the extra body weight I have had a difficult time shedding, and the way my mirror stares mockingly back at me some days.

    …I want to thank God for the rattle in my car, the leaky faucet in my bathroom, the slowest line at the bank, the disproportionate number of red lights during my morning commute, last night’s quarrel with my spouse, the empty orange juice container, the paper cut, the stubbed toe, the neighbor who mows his yard at 6:00 a.m., and the one red shirt that mysteriously found its way into my washing machine along with a load of what is now formerly white clothes.

    Yes, God, thank you.

    The wonderful and lovely occurrences in life present us an obvious opportunity to experience and express gratitude.  Appreciation flows generously in moments of ease and abundance.  But how can we experience thankfulness in the midst of strife and turmoil?  How can we feel abundant when we feel as though we have nothing?  Is it possible that the events in life that reveal themselves to us under the guise of calamity hold within them the same opportunity for self-realization as those which seem to appear peacefully and effortlessly?

    The people, places, and things which show up as “wrong” serve to illuminate that which is “right,” remembering that it is only within the human understanding of “wrong” or “right” that anything can be judged as so.  There is not a single occurrence which does not lead you to a higher experience of Who You Really Are, whether you are being invited to that remembrance through an experience of having or not having, losing or finding, propelling forward or retracting back, feeling frustrated or feeling overjoyed.

    I will be expressing my deepest gratitude to God for the “nothings” in my life this Thanksgiving and thanking Her for the expanding awareness that continues to allow me to see the possibilities within what might otherwise appear to be “wrong.”

    How about you?

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation.  She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team atwww.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

     

     

  • If you think it’s a sign, it is a sign.

    I have a question about signs. I was in a relationship and always noticed my boyfriend’s first name everywhere…also the word “ring.” I kept thinking to myself why ring..I didn’t see him proposing?? Then I would see a wedding ring…odd. We broke up and I wish him the best, but just this week it started all over again. It has been a year!!!I feel like I am nuts. It doesn’t make sense. Is this a sign or something else?  Because I am confused.  ~T.

    Dear T.,

    If you think it is a sign, it is a sign. But a sign of what?

    You could go into the creative, romantic side of you and think that it means he’s thinking of you, and that is certainly possible. It might, and I believe more probably, mean that you are thinking of him and haven’t yet resolved your issues around him and the ring.

    Which leads me to a small discussion on preferences vs. expectations. Culturally, we are taught to expect the ring, so we go into a relationship with a very narrow focus of what it should look like…expectation. Only one way of fulfilling the vision. Preference, on the other hand, says that the ring would be nice, but that you know there are other ways of having a good relationship, and that you are open to any way that shows itself, and that is mutually agreeable.

    Then, perhaps, these are signs that you should look at what is actually true about the relationship, based on what you actually experienced and witnessed, rather than the story you made up about those things. Just as a short example:

    Fact: He left me.

    Story: He broke my heart, he doesn’t love me, he thinks that I am the worst person in the world.  (I’m making this up, of course, because I know nothing about your breakup.)

    T., it’s up to you to decide what the sign means. It could be as simple as you asking you to make up your mind about what you really feel. It could be he’s thinking of you. Or it could be something else entirely! I absolutely believe that God talks to us constantly, through little signs all day long. I also believe that if we “listen” through the body, via that old tummy test, we will actually know what the conversation is about!

    Find a quiet place, sit down, think about the things you have just read, and see how they feel in your tummy.

    Therese

    (Therese Wilson is the administrator of the global website at www.ChangingChange.net, which offers spiritual assistance from a team of Spiritual Helpers responding to every post from readers within 24 hours or less, and offers insight, suggestions, and companionship during moments of unbidden, unexpected, unwelcome change on the journey of life. She may be contacted at Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

    (If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com, where our team is waiting to hear from you.)


  • When Men Can Stay:
    How a Small Group of Men Will Save the World

    Men have been gathering in small groups for support and wisdom since the dawn of civilization. From the seasoned elders to the fired-up young warriors, circles of men have convened for millennia to express and explore, concerns and ideas which rejuvenate and replenish wholeness to themselves and the world.

    I have been honored and privileged to be a part of a men’s group for the last two decades. The idea is to meet on a regular basis to tap into the collective gifts of the group–usually eight men at most.  Individuals’ issues come and go as regularly and predictably as the relationship between the Moon, the Earth and her sacred tides. When the room is attuned, when all are present, the singular clarity that any one man’s issue is the issue of every man becomes crystal clear. Marriage, family, career, health, creativity, loss, success, wonderings, longings; it’s all there waiting for the wake-up call. As the issues are triaged by the elders and the bantering quells, the listening begins, the judging stops, and men are heard and seen and held in the highest regard.

    The container for what goes on in the group grows and becomes increasingly larger as trust is assured in this place where the agreement is to practice presence, compassion, and empathy for one another. The agreement is to foster the observer in each of us, to become better men.

    In my tenure as a men’s group member, I have watched, participated and learned about life’s issues from the frank fear of living to the shadow of prejudice — whether it be racial, sexual or spiritual — to the underlying truth that we all care deeply about our lives, each other, and the world. We all come with a coat of armor and a story with a central grievance that is gently prodded, taken off, and put aside ever-so-slowly as safety and respect are established.

    The presumed secrets of each man come tumbling out as the collective nod of, “Oh, we already knew that about you” never ceases to surprise and delight us all.

    When men meet and sit in a group together on a regular basis, the truth emerges. Men will not, cannot lie to each other for long–we won’t stand for it. When men can stay for this awful, ecstatic truth about their lives to become finally and unavoidably explicit to themselves and the world, something fantastic happens. What happens is that living in a contracted and compromised way is no longer an option. What happens is when a man gets his life and transcends, lets go of, a story that may no longer be working or healthy, he goes out and gets his life with dignity, authenticity, passion and support.

    Since the Industrial Revolution and more recently the Technological Revolution, men have had scarce little of this kind of training or support. Many of our fathers and father’s fathers were physically and/or emotionally absent as a result. Men have been asked to go out into a world that is antithetical to a deep, intimate understanding of what it’s like to live in another man’s mind, body and spirit.

    Is it any wonder we can continue waging the atrocity of war with rational lies while conducting business like Wall Street’s infamous Gordon Gekko? Is it any wonder why we have become a country of consumer addicts and substance – from food to pharmaceuticals – abusers? Is it any wonder we can continue to poison the Earth and environment and abuse our companion species and forms (like water and minerals) as if we had another planet to live on when we’ve destroyed our home? Good planets are hard to find.

    Without a small group of men meeting in every neighborhood with the intention of diving deep down into the biology of beliefs of the individual and collective, with willingness and openness to evolve and grow, men become isolated and laminated with facade and lifelessness. Without committing to a regular discipline of dropping the pretense of unhealthy competitiveness and greed and exploring our one short life together with other men, we cannot possibly tap into and deconstruct the unconscious, implicit memory and patterns that haunt our families and drive so much of what has gone dysfunctional in the world. Without a passionate desire to lose the act of supposing to know what to do in a world of bad actors and outcomes, men cannot possibly become the best fathers, sons, husbands, partners, brothers, providers, protectors, and citizens they were born to be.

    When men awaken to the responsibility of consistent participation in a masculine community, isolation fades and the benefits of gathering are progressively revealed as deep wounds and truths are made consciously available for practical application.
    Men adore, respect, and seek to be in the company of women. But men are empowered, genuinely empowered, by other men.

    When men can stay and share their lives, hopes, aspirations and dreams with other men, something fantastic happens, and something fantastic needs to happen to save the world.

    (Dr. Herby Bell is the director and owner of Recovery Health Care in Redwood City, California, where men’s groups form and are held on a regular basis. For more information contact: 650-474-2121 or herbybell@me.com)

  • Do you believe in ‘Me’ or do you believe in ‘Us’?

    Something beautiful happened on November 6, 2012.

    Quietly, calmly and resolutely, millions of Americans came together as one. We made a decision as a nation. Over all of the well-funded noise expressing fear and hate, that wanted more than anything to maintain a nation divided, we made a different choice.

    This moment has not been lost on anyone. Everyone, no matter what side of the political spectrum, knows that what happened last week was profound. We can feel it in the air and in our bones. I have long believed that in American politics, it comes down to one simple question: Do you believe in ME or do you believe in US? On Tuesday, US won. We announced that we understand that we are all one.

    We’ve been taught to believe in ME in so many ways. We love the notion of the rugged individualism handed down by the idealism of our forefathers. Individualism, in fact, is the concept that founded this nation. We are built on the idea that we should not be limited by birth, that we all have a right to participate in the decision-making process of our society. This was the great step that democracy made over feudalism.

    But that’s only part of our story. Since our earliest days, we’ve also been a nation at war with itself. With every generation, there have been many of us who were disenfranchised through ideology, theology, intimidation, or force. For many of us, the experience of being pushed to the side has left us deeply wounded. I, for one, have had a hard time trusting a God that could let such things happen.

    This year, the choice could not have been clearer. This election was a referendum on WHO WE ARE and WHO WE CHOOSE TO BE as a people. It was a perfect example of CWG’s most fundamental question: ‘Who do I choose to be in relation to this reality?’ Do we choose to express the idea that only some of us are worthy of heaven and a decent life on earth, as so many evangelists preach? Do we choose to let intimidation keep us from the polls and locked in a cycle of powerlessness? Or do we choose to live who we really are?

    Do you believe in ME or do you believe in US?

    We answered that question this past week by simply being who we really are. We showed up and stood in line quietly, patiently, resolutely. This was sacred ground we were walking. This was holy work we were up to and it is a conversation that has resounded around the globe:

    “(We chose) to experience the grandest version of the greatest vision (we) ever had about who (we are).”

    For those of us unafraid of unity and equality, this is our greatest joy.

    (Kimberly J. Miller is a writer, musician, and student of spirituality who lives in Northern California. She is currently writing a book, Southern Odyssey, about her own search for soul as a woman of mixed heritage in America.)

     

     

  • Your Children Have to Live Their Own Lives

    Dear Editor…My son is falling into a group that uses drugs on a regular basis. This is not just youthful “experimentation,” this is serious drug abuse, as far as I am concerned. I have talked with him about it, but he keeps telling me not to worry, that he can take care of himself, and has no intention of becoming “addicted” to drugs. What can I do here? Are there any “spiritual truths” that might help me in this situation — or help him? I suppose I should tell you, he is 22 years old…but that doesn’t make him feel any less my worry or my concern.

    — Priscilla

    Dear Priscilla,

    The greatest gift a parent can give their children, and the hardest one for the parent to give, is letting them live their own lives. Especially when it is going in a direction that, to us, is clearly not the journey that we would want them to take. At 22, he is certainly on his own journey.

    There are no wrong paths, Priscilla, and I would like to suggest to you that your son is taking this path for two reasons. First, because this is the way he is experiencing what he chose, on a soul level, to experience. Secondly, so that you, and others, could choose your own experience through what he is doing right now.

    I am not saying that, Priscilla, from a flippant space. I have someone very special to me who is a recovering addict. For him, it took many years and many hard roads, including prison. We had a talk about his path recently, and he said that there was nothing I could have done that would have stopped him…until he was ready to stop. What he did say, that was most interesting to me, was that every word of advice that my husband and I gave him was heard! He said that he couldn’t truly hear them until he was sober, but then they became powerful.

    You haven’t indicated that your son is an addict, and I don’t want to suggest that he is, but the advice I would give you is the same. Talk to him. Don’t talk to him from your judgment, talk to him from your love. It is okay to tell him you are worried about him, it is not okay to tell him you think he is bad. Tell him you love him.

    If he knew who he really was, he wouldn’t be doing what he is doing. To help him know this, you might give him a copy of “Conversations With God” Book 1, but just give it to him gently and let him know it is okay if he doesn’t read it until he is ready to. Priscilla, you may also wish to have personal support, and if you feel so drawn, you might consider going to www.ChangingChange.net where you can share your journey and get practical and spiritual suggestions. The site is based on the book, “When Everything Changes, Change Everything”, and it is available, in total, to read on the site. There are, of course, many other resources available to both of you.

    Then let him have his own journey. It may never be one you understand, but, Pricilla, it will never be a “wrong” journey. This life is not the end of the experience as individuations of Divinity. Your task is to have your own journey, that, hopefully, includes finding a way to communicate to your son that his journey is the more difficult one, and that there is a way that works better. My journey included telling my special someone that I would no longer witness his self destruction. I told him that I understood that no one would consciously choose this road, and that I loved him, but staying on the road with him was not helping him, and was harming me, and others that I loved.

    Priscilla, communicate your fears, but don’t let judgment enter the conversation. Suggest, but don’t dictate. Let your son know your love. Then, no matter how long or short the journey through drugs he must take, be there when he comes out the other side. Then tell him you will always be his mother. I know that the seeds of love that I sowed took 15 years, but they grew into a magnificent man!

    Therese

     (If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com, where our team is waiting to hear from you.)

    (Therese Wilson is the administrator of the global website at www.ChangingChange.net, which offers spiritual assistance from a team of Spiritual Helpers responding to every post from readers within 24 hours or less, and offers insight, suggestions, and companionship during moments of unbidden, unexpected, unwelcome change on the journey of life. She may be contacted at Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

     

  • Your words really do have energy

    “I am so lonely, and I want so much for someone to love me.  I’ve been trying so hard to be centered and forgiving and understanding of others.  I need someone to understand me for a change.  My friends say that I am too negative and that my words have energy. What do they mean?”  C.L.

    Dear C.L.

    When you are in the situation where it seems like everything you desire from life is being kept from you, it is difficult to see just how words reflect where we are sending our energy.  From a distance, however, one can see where your energy resides. In “want” and “need” and “try.” What we often can not see, when we want and we need, is that we get exactly what we ask for…want and need. There is a quote attributed to Dr. Michael Beckwith, “Trying is failing with self-protected honor.” Always, in reality, honoring the possibility of failing, and not honoring what you are actually doing and desiring.

    C.L., one of the least understood things about the Universe, is that its greatest desire is to give you exactly what you ask for. It has no judgment as to how good or bad it is for your life. It only knows what you are giving your energy to. Are you giving your energy to want and need? Voila! The Universe joyfully gives you want and need!

    (Now, I am not saying that every time we use those words we are going to be asking for want and need. Let me be clear that I know we use all words casually, and they have no impact on what we are energetically asking for.)

    The power of words is by no means simply a personal thing. Since this is the end of a particularly vocal political season here in the United States, let me share my personal observations of the energy of words on a larger group of society.

    During the last election, I was asked if I really believed the words I was hearing. Words like hope, change, “Yes, we can!”  Yes, I did.

    This election I have been asked if those words don’t now ring hollow.

    My answer is that those words still have power. It doesn’t even matter if the person saying them believes them, it matters if the person hearing them believes them. The words “hope and change,” the words “change starts with you and works up,” the words of Ghandi, “Be the change you wish to see,” affected me, and others, greatly. Those words caused me to do things in my own life, and in my own community to make my world a better place, and caused others to do the same thing. Those words caused me to move away from fear and hatred, and the feeling of being divided from my fellow American, and into a powerful, unifying energy, symbolized by those words.

    So, in this election cycle, I look at the power of the words being used. I listen to my body when I hear the words of people who would represent me and my country. Do I feel hopeful and motivated, or do I feel fearful and immobilized? Do I feel I want to reach out to my fellow human being, or do I want to protect myself and my things? Do I look at others as part of Divinity, or do I look at them as opponents and enemies?

    C.L.,  we are all letting the energy of our thoughts and words enter into our every day lives, so you are definitely not alone in not understanding the power of those words. What energy are you sending out most powerfully?  I would suggest you change to words like, wish, hope and prefer…prefer to have a certain thing or outcome, but do not expect anything in any certain way.  This keeps you open to whatever way the Universe wishes to give to you.

    What we also often fail see is that the energy of our words doesn’t stop with us.  From us that energy expands to our family, community, country and our world.

    Most of us are using this power process unconsciously.

    My advice would be to know that we can all change this, and that the change does begin with us.  We can change how we use our words and the thought we have associated with those words.

    In “When Everything Changes, Change Everything” it says:

    An event is one thing; your reality of it is another. Events are created by conditions and occurrences outside you. Reality is created by conditions and occurrences inside you—in your mind. It is here that events are turned into data, which are turned into truths, which are turned into thoughts, which are turned into emotions, which are turned into experiences, which form your reality.”

    Words, you see, are the expression of our thoughts. If we can make a change, right there in the process, imagine how different our reality might be…personally and globally.

    Therese

     (If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to  Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com, where our team is waiting to hear from you.)

    (Therese Wilson is the administrator of the global website at www.ChangingChange.net, which offers spiritual assistance from a team of Spiritual Helpers responding to every post from readers within 24 hours or less, and offers insight, suggestions, and companionship during moments of unbidden, unexpected, unwelcome change on the journey of life. She may be contacted at Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)