I have been blessedly busy lately, and as such I have not posted several things which have come to me to write about. So, here are several little bits which probably deserve their own extended posts.
I like the process and results of Observation, far better than the process and results of belief.

When I am observing I am questioning and open to discovery. I can then choose to act on what I see to be True in the moment.

When I believe something, I am accessing old mental constructs and making decisions based on the past. Life is Flow and energy in motion. When I believe something, and make decisions based on the past, I take myself out of the presence moment and act as though life is static. This prevents me from seeing the flow of life, and prevents me from learning anything new.

In order to learn anything new, I must approach the presence moment with the understanding that what I currently think I know is either only partially true, or completely false. Otherwise I enter the situation knowing that “I know what I know; I know how I know it; I know how and why it’s right!” When I enter a situation from that perspective I am going to leave it knowing what I knew. From that perspective there is no possibility for learning and growth.

Here is a link to a nine minute clip about the value of observation over belief, and a story illustrating the point: http://ch4cs.com/audio.asp?ID=210

 
While listening to people talk recently, and hearing people degrade themselves and others because of poor decisions, I was prompted to write the following:

There are no idiots. Only Brilliant Souls who have temporarily forgotten, or have yet to discover their Brilliance.

Everyone has done things which by their own assessment they have looked back on and labeled it idiotic. That was just a single decision or behavior. That is simply a single choice or a snapshot in time. Those things do not define us. Even when we happen to string together a series of events, or days, weeks, months, or years when we do things we later label as idiotic. That does not define us.

We have choice. We can learn, and choose again. This is one of the wonderful things that separate us from every other known creature.
There are no idiots. Only Brilliant Souls who have temporarily forgotten, or have yet to discover their Brilliance.

 
On a road trip recently I listened to several of my old talks and found that I have some new favorites. This prompted me to edit two short pieces and add them to my website.

Here is a link to a six minute clip which is the best I have heard myself talk about role models: http://ch4cs.com/audio.asp?ID=209

Here is a link to a twenty minute talk I gave at the Unity Spiritual Center in July 2015:http://ch4cs.com/audio.asp?ID=202

Thanks for reading and listening.

Happy Holy Days!

We Come From Love, We Are Made Of Love, We Are Love!  Everything else is false.

On this morning I am grateful for all of the events in my life which have led me to this place and time.  I am grateful for the struggles, hurdles and trials which have taught me to let go.  I am grateful for the parents who lovingly nurtured me through the first 21 years of my life before I moved out to make my own way in the world.  I am grateful for the siblings who have shared this journey with me.  I am grateful for the friends I have been privileged to have in my life who are too wonderful to describe in words.  I am exceedingly grateful for the two Sons I have who continually give me lessons, and stir the Joy and appreciation of my Heart.

I am grateful to have learned that I don’t need to “re-invent the wheel”, when it comes to finding ways to appreciate life, and improve my internal experience of life.  I am grateful to have been introduced to the true wisdom schools in their many forms, and glad that I had been prepared by my parents, siblings, friends, my children, and life events to be able to recognize the usefulness of that wisdom.

I am grateful to have met fellow wisdom seekers along the way, and especially for those who join me every Tuesday and Thursday evenings for the Mindshifter Groups in Woodstock, IL and Crystal Lake, IL respectively.  If you have never heard of these groups before, that won’t mean much to you, so imagine if you will, people who choose to give up their usual pursuits, hobbies, work, family time, various mind-numbing stimulants – whether that be television, food, drugs, alcohol, or other distractions – to come together with like-minded souls to question everything about their life.  People who choose to do something to improve their internal experience of life, rather than simply complain about it.  Not that the people who come to Mindshifters Groups never complain about things!  It is just that they have made a commitment, (and backed it up with action), to learn and apply tools which actually change the parts of themselves that like to complain.  So, people who actually use these tools end up complaining a lot less about the events, people, and situations in their lives, and notice with ease, how much more there is to enjoy, and appreciate in their lives.

I have gratitude for those who have been coming to these groups regularly for years.  I have gratitude for those who have come and tried the group experience even once or twice.  I know that no one tool, school, or teacher is right for everyone, and I hope for those who don’t feel  that these groups and tools are a fit for them, that they continue looking until they find the way to improve their lives and Live from the conscious awareness of their True Nature as the energy of Creation – Love.

I have deep appreciation and gratitude for all the Master Teachers over the centuries who have dedicated themselves to learning, applying, and sharing the wisdom which allows Integration – some would say “healing”.  I have special appreciation for the Master Teachers I have been privileged to meet, read, and study with in this lifetime.  Including – but not limited to – Dr. Michael and Jeanie Ryce who provide the core of the tools we use in the Mindshifter Groups; Guy Finley and the Life of Learning Foundation which provides so much rich material for my personal work, public talks, and Mindshifter Groups; Dale Allen Hoffman who continues to explore the actuality of being a Spiritual, “Christian”, Mystic and shares that journey with so many; Tricia Alexander – Musician, Healer, Mystic, Wisdom School student who touches more lives Lovingly than she will ever know; J. Krishnamurti whose writings were the first and most relentlessly pure statement of the need to question everything that I ever encountered as a young aspirant; and to Josip Pasic who insisted I read J. Krishnamurti’s works and study them.

This gratitude post was sparked by the past several weeks of deeply moving and powerful Mindshifter Groups, and those wonderful, Loving people  who shared their time and their Love with the other participants, and showed us all what true Willingness and Surrender can achieve.

I invite all of you reading this to explore these tools, the support groups, and the Internet show which happens five days a week from  noon to 1:00 pm Central Time on Blog Talk Radio, (and has five years of archived shows available FREE at www.whyagain.org and clicking the link for Mindshifters Radio).  The core tool is the Reality Management Worksheet and it is available for FREE at www.whyagain.org.

We Come From Love, We Are Made Of Love, We Are Love!  Everything else is false.