Putting a price on My Soul

Life seems to be about settling, or satisfying this yearning. Ultimately I believe its for a true experience of what we believe, or think, is God. But why this yearning for something that is truly everywhere? This has been the answer, the conclusion, the solution to all my questions, seeking, yearning - to those deep, slow burning questions that I have inside. There are many, or have been. It all came down to the statement when I took the risk to step out of the game - "I want more!!" I yearn to know the "God thing", "how do I fit?", "how does it work?", "why?"

But if it is already here, in everything, why do I have to go somewhere, or seek, or do? I guess it is the nature of the experience here - in this we call "life". I also seek happiness, peace, appreciation - is this the same desire for God? After all of the acquisition of things, experience, knowledge it has always been followed by a "neediness" for more. That experience has become "wanting" - there is a bitter taste it has left behind. Some thing in my heart tells me that "doing" any more will leave me dissatisfied - "Doing" in the sense of expecting some external reward - money, prestige, recognition. Of course I like to be noticed - I think we all do. But after stacking up a bunch of paper, or numbers, or words I found there wasn't much satisfaction. The satisfaction, now, comes from just the act of Sharing. It's kind of like "Being" for me. I've done a lot of stuff, gotten some answers, or more questions, but it's fun to just Share. But how can I put a price on that? It does seem to be the most important game in the world. I used to play Monopoly. But it did get boring. I found the reward of winning to not be worth the anxiety of "wanting" to win.

What is a fragrant flower blooming in a dew covered meadow worth? Or the laughter of children? To become like a child offers the chance to enter the Kingdom?

I've really lost interest in putting a price on what I do. The numbers game has really come to bore me. Does a tree trust that the Earth will still be here to hold its roots? Do I question each day whether the "science" of the electrons of my body will still operate in balance, or even the galaxies? Why this lack of trust in what we call human affairs?

I depend on nature for my lessons. When I go outside the elements and living things seem pretty peaceful - always moving, yet peaceful. Even the stars or the elements in my body seem in balance - at least it feels that way. I have learned that everything is living and dying - but that is just the natural process of things. The interesting thing is the consistency of the consciousness of the feeling of being me. I've been told I go lots of other places but I don't really remember, clearly.

I can tell my appreciation for what is, has been, is expanding. Sometimes the joy, the ecstacy that seems to emanate from my heart is increasing. I have learned a lot in this lifetime - and now I know I really know nothing. But my yearning to be one with God has expanded too. And yet now I know that I can't ever be out of God - so, I guess, I am really yearning to Be, here, Now - because, I guess I am - at least this part I am aware of. I'm pretty sure God really is taking care of everything. At least the last time I checked he/she/it was.

I'm just thinking I'm just going to Share my stuff - I don't know what else to do. I'll let someone else put a value to it. It just feels good to Share. Others can take it or leave it. I like my stuff. Sometimes it really surprises me. Not many other people seem to notice. Ah, what the hell. I'm not very good at marketing and advertising - well, actually I just don't want to play that game either - I can be pretty good. I don't play Monopoly, chess or video games either.

I guess I'm just becoming a boring old guy. I like to think about God, life and how to feel peaceful and really happy - how do I avoid feeling angst, or frustration or anger? What can I do to help others to feel happy? I like this stuff now. I don't really know how to put a price on those things. I don't really want to "raise money" to do them either. This game just has really gotten boring to me. And it seems to cause a lot of angst. I guess I'm screwed because many people tell me that I have to play the game just to live. Hmmmm . . ., this is quite the conundrum . . . . What am I gonna do?

It's All Around

A friend posted a nice sentiment at Facebook, which inspired my response.

"Remember every day to do things that make your soul chuckle in JOY. Listen to the song of the wind in the trees. Hold a cat to your face. Listen to children laughing. Enjoy a beautiful sunset. Hold hands with a LOVED ONE. Dance to great music. Sing in the shower. Feel gods hand in the wind caressing your cheek. Feel gratitude for all the miracles of LIFE you experience every moment of NOW"~Bent Kim Lundberg

My response - Its all around, love abounds, astounds, rebounds and will always carry us away on gossamer wings if we allow. Joy presses, caresses, addresses and redresses if we simply observe that which motivates, captivates and exhilarates. Love, the Breath, Life invites us to play, to remember how we once enjoyed, as children, All That Is without all the measuring, worrying and judging. Just play along, and soon all hearts will be rejoicing in ONE LOVE. Thank You, Bent for constantly re-minding us to simply enjoy the sensual, loving feast that abounds all experience, if, we are giving a little attention. Peace, Love and Abundance.

Compassion

Joy effervesces
from deep in my being,
as if from the atoms themselves.
The nature of my true life,
expressing itself,
untangling beliefs and ideas.
The light at an energetic level,
spiraling up, releasing, revealing,
silly perceptions introduced
into consciousness for a play.
An unread demonstration of possibility,
as thought ingrains alternatives
of things that just might be.
The ropes and chains of past prisons
cannot any more impede
the nature of life, the stuff we're made,
has as its purpose love.
But all is allowed its own expression,
the totality is endowed,
the possibilities are endless
the limits aren't defined.
Now my heart relinquishes
old patterns not endowed.
These old ideas just don't fit
my choice is one of joy,
and the idea to trust the process
is all that is required.
No worries, no pain, no fear.
For that which sustains,
is and always was,
giving me permission
to express what I see best.
The only issue was contradictions,
mis-understandings of what is.
But now emerging deep within me
the incredibly open mind,
the heart that has always compelled
no longer do I have to find
for it was always in me,
and it was never lost.
But now I realize the real truth,
that it is the heart of the One.

Trail Blazing - a Prayer

This body, this flesh is not who I am. I know this now without a doubt. This mystery is far to grand, so immersive to be the shallow model that has been presented so conveniently through science and religion. What a humorous thing to observe. The descriptions of everything in words, theories, ideas which represent only one tiny part of even a moment in this grand experience called life. I am not afraid anymore. Now, as I become conscious of the various aspects of truth, of course not even a sliver, but something nonetheless, I can see, feel, sense and know the beauty and simplicity. All is based on love. And anything is possible. There is only One thing here, but its potential and expressions are infinite. As my awareness expands, simply, it seems, by my willingness and open-ness, I feel as though an aspect of myself has blazed a trail before me, establishing, preparing the adventures I have experienced.

How could my thoughts entertain the vastness of possibilities, the extent of the cosmos, but then be denied access even in this human form? The limitations have all been set down by a very limited view of life. And this is not the truth - unless I decide it is. I don't. My curiosity, my hunger to experience love and living in the full spectrum, the full cycle of being urges me to invite greater and greater possibilities. God, Source, One, Love - Thank You!

In some strange, mysterious, magical way I know you know what is going to happen next and yet it is not preordained. The experience is mine alone to create - in process. And as I do your essence, your love, your Being goes with me and captures and transmits the experience throughout. Please guide me, strengthen me to be consistent and responsible to Love as I know in the deepest part of my being that this is the most beneficial process for me. And yet I do not want to limit, constrain or choke the experience by my preconceived ideas, beliefs or prejudices. Empower me to contribute in the purest and most beneficial way.

Strengthen and support me to be courageous, bold and creative. To confront and resist conformity as it appears to be the thing stifling life the most in this "reality". Help me be the harbinger, the trailblazer, the demonstrator of the glory and opportunity that you have given all who exist in this form we call human-being. I yearn, intend to know universal, cosmic consciousness in this form, if that is what I am to be. I seek to show others the realization of our capacities and potentials in this form. And yet I detach from the process. I am loving the best I know how. I am being the best I know how. And I am grateful for the incredible capacities you have endowed to me. To see so clearly. To experience so fully. To look back and see with wonder this life. And then to go forward each day with wonder and gratitude. Oh my God! How do you do this? How did you make this? How can you hold all together in perfection? - And know all of it. When will I join you?

Please let me show others the way. I know we came here to be happy, to have fun, to love, to experience the vastness of the cacophony of sense experience. The pleasures. The intensities. To dream big dreams and make them. And to live through the whole process as complete expression of your love. Breathe life into me, Love. Breathe me. Breathe through me. Have me as a channel, a messenger, a light bearer - for the Grand enlightening, the conversion to the Truth experience of Love. With all of my Being, all of my power, all of my humility I say this prayer now. And I Thank You for granting and fulfilling this request in the exact manner that aligns with perfect Love. Thank You! So Be It! So It Is. All That Is!

The Flower

a flower beamed its splendor to me,
sharing its grandeur with glee,
a simple expression,
that left its impression, sending its message through my eyes,
color, texture, aroma its supplies,
the message carried on a path,
no alternative intentions, no rath.
only expressing its nature,
no concerns for stature,
no expectations for recompense,
just an offering for my sense,
a gift delivered for free,
one that I accepted deep within me.

Quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson on Friends

Ralph Waldo Emerson- Excerpt from Essay Friendship

“What is so pleasant as these jets of affection which make a young world for me again? What so delicious as a just and firm encounter of two, in a thought, in a feeling? How beautiful, on their approach to this beating heart, the steps and forms of the gifted and the true! The moment we indulge our affections, the earth is metamorphosed; there is no winter, and no night; all tragedies, all ennuis, vanish, — all duties even; nothing fills the proceeding eternity but the forms all radiant of beloved persons. Let the soul be assured that somewhere in the universe it should rejoin its friend, and it would be content and cheerful alone for a thousand years.

I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new. Shall I not call God the Beautiful, who daily showeth himself so to me in his gifts? I chide society, I embrace solitude, and yet I am not so ungrateful as not to see the wise, the lovely, and the noble-minded, as from time to time they pass my gate. Who hears me, who understands me, becomes mine, — a possession for all time. Nor is nature so poor but she gives me this joy several times, and thus we weave social threads of our own, a new web of relations; and, as many thoughts in succession substantiate themselves, we shall by and by stand in a new world of our own creation, and no longer strangers and pilgrims in a traditionary globe. My friends have come to me unsought. The great God gave them to me. By oldest right, by the divine affinity of virtue with itself, I find them, or rather not I, but the Deity in me and in them derides and cancels the thick walls of individual character, relation, age, sex, circumstance, at which he usually connives, and now makes many one. High thanks I owe you, excellent lovers, who carry out the world for me to new and noble depths, and enlarge the meaning of all my thoughts. These are new poetry of the first Bard, — poetry without stop, — hymn, ode, and epic, poetry still flowing, Apollo and the Muses chanting still. Will these, too, separate themselves from me again, or some of them? I know not, but I fear it not; for my relation to them is so pure, that we hold by simple affinity, and the Genius of my life being thus social, the same affinity will exert its energy on whomsoever is as noble as these men and women, wherever I may be.

Realization of Self Love

This is a very personal description of a great discovery about self-love and the teachings of Jesus and the ten commandments.

About twelve years ago (1997), I was recovering from divorce. It turned out to be one of the most challenging times in my life. This process literally took years. I am not sure why I drug it out so long, but that was just the process. I mostly felt myself to have been a failure as a father. Not upholding the social agreement of marriage, mostly for the sake of my son.

I struggled a great deal financially, probably a form of self punishment. I also had periods of deep sorrow- even so far as contemplating the end of my life. I never went so far to actually do anything, just going to that place of desperate resignation. The most profound of these times I actually went to the place of no feelings. Ambivalence, numbness, not caring. That I discovered is a much more desperate and dangerous place than anger or depression.

When I was at the lowest place I was in my apartment and I picked up the Bible. Now, I have never read the Bible to any great extent. I have tried a number of times, but found the language difficult to comprehend. Plus I have come to believe that much of the greatest truths to have been culled out. However, I still believe that it is filled with great wisdom and truth, it is just difficult for me to decipher what might have been added or deleted. Not the best use of my time, this is my opinion.

However, on this occasion I opened up the book at random, dropped my finger on the passage where the disciples are asking Jesus to speak on the commandments, I remember reading "and what of the ten commandments"? And Jesus's response, in my recollection "There are only two. Love God with all your being. And Love your neighbor as yourself".

Reading this caused great realizations for me, and insights on my perspectives on love of self, and also my access to the love of God. You see, I read in that passage in the Bible, having a scientific mind, a case of deductive reasoning. The bottom line, or the basic challenge of Jesus' message relates to Self love. The deduction, or the leap of reasoning comes because he did not mention three points - 1) Love God, 2) Love Yourself, and 3) Love Your Neighbor as Yourself. The second step in this reasoning is missing.

Why? I assume that Jesus "assumed" that we would love ourselves. But is this the case in our world? I think mostly not. For many reasons - one is that it has become "tabu" in many ways to "Love ourselves" (e.g. narcissism, arrogance, selfishness). However, as I have since discovered, if I don't harbor Love in my heart for myself, how can I truly Love others? And I am not talking about "selfish" love. I'm talking about the Love for God and for all others. For if I truly Love Andy in the true sense of Love then I do not have to worry about selfish love. My brother-in-law many years ago (1981) confronted me on this. I think I said something him to about loving my girlfriend more than I loved myself. And he replied, "Andy how can you expect others to Love you, if you don't Love yourself?" This I have realized over the years is one of the most powerful questions a person can ask - either of themselves, or of a dear one.

This reverie from the quote from Jesus made me think why I might have arrived at the point of not Loving myself. I thought that it probably had something to do with pain - and pain being a sign of being excluded from God's Love, which to me is the greatest fear. Much greater than the fear of death. (a little digression, imagine the world of people living day to day their greatest fear as their truth!)

I thought back to my first unconscious "comprehension" of God - which would have been my parents. They were bigger than me, took care of all my needs, protected me, loved me. But did they love me when they punished me? I think I came to understand/feel that when I did "bad", I was being excluded from Love. When I felt pain, either external or internal, I began to separate myself from Love. I began to believe that I could actually do something and become un-Lovable. A ridiculous notion as I understand today, but for most of my life I believed, I felt this. As my friend Tom says "little Andy", had programmed this idea into the very core of my being. This is the idea that the church has placed on us. The idea of "original sin", or at least the way that I interpreted it. And, if I look at many people in the world, I think others believe it too.

In any case, I examined this idea of doing things, and being "out of Love". And it explained my behaviors. You see, once I was out of Love, or had excluded myself consciously, it doesn't matter. Bad in degrees is immaterial. And, because of the internal pain, the need to blot it out became more and more necessary. Thus, in my case, I turned to drugs and alcohol as a young person. However, at the time of this experience reading the Bible, in 1997, I had been 16 year sober.

I think I somehow got the idea or belief that if I felt pain, I wasn't being Loved. Of course it started with my parents, but then I think it extended to God, and of course to everyone. Because, how or why would I feel pain (which is "bad") if I was Loved?

Pain is a sign of being a "sinner" and "sinners" can't be Loved by God, right? Because we have to become an "un-sinner" for God to really Love us, right? We have to become totally clean to be accepted into the Love of God. And this only happens when you "do something", and are transformed into being "white as snow". But if I feel pain inside, then I feel that I am the same. I know that this is not the case, and this seems like a very childish way of understanding. However, I think this childish "program" was actually running in my life - it explained my behaviors.

In truth, I do not think God condemns. It is a man made construct, like so many other concepts that have imprisoned us - but these are OK, because there is a purpose to all.

I also realized at this moment that pain is not "bad". It is merely an aspect on a continuum. And, in actuality, it can be very, very good. In fact, it was deep and desperate pain that lead me to "no pain", no cares, no feeling which was the stimulus for all of these epiphanies about "Self Love". And in that moment, and in previous moments, I realized that "pain" can be exquisite. And then I wasn't sitting in judgment about my feelings, about my actions, which would result in me being excluded from God's Love, which is not possible.

Whether I consciously bought into the idea of "sin" and condemnation, I think at some level I believed that I had done things that had placed me out of God's Love. Divorce.

Abandoning my son (this was my "programmed" belief). Having a tendency to be somewhat
of a "womanizer". But this actually tied to my own condemnation of myself. It became a self fulfilling prophecy. It was like, OK, I'm already a "screw-up" (a sinner) so fuck it! And I had come to believe that I was the kind of person to do those things. So, if I believe myself to be that kind of person, how could I do anything else? But in reality all I was doing in that process was trying to find love. Love from others. Love to fill the void in me. But no other person can ever fill that void. Because that was a void created by my lack of Love for my Self.

And I think Loving my Self first is actually one of the most gracious things that I could ever do. I am God's first gift to me. To my person. This physical, spiritual and intellectual being was God's gift to me first. And from there, all other expressions arise, at least in my conscious experience.

I realized this in another way a few years ago when I heard the song by Bad Company "Feel like making Love". I realized that we are supposed to be "Love factories". But how could I generate Love if I don't have the first ingredient - Love for the being, the gift that God gave me - me, myself and I. Isn't it a tremendous lack of gratitude to not love what God gave me, first?

Through all of this thinking I realized that "Self love" was to "Love God with All My Being" - and that if I could accomplish Self Love in the most pure and profound way, then "Love Others as Your Self" would flow naturally and effortlessly. That was the "missing deduction" in Jesus's statement about there only being two commandments.

I also realized that maybe, these feelings, were God experiencing itself through me. I imagined my joys, sorrows, and the agelessness of the feelings. I imagined how my body, and my mind seem to age, but my feelings don't. I thought of the loves and deepness of those profound feelings that I had experienced in my life and felt that that truly was a God living through me. And those forces are the ones that have motivated me, truly to seek Love with all my being. To be Love in all ways that I can.

So what next? Forgiveness. Yes, but if God doesn't condemn why would I need forgiveness?

I don't really know, but for me at that (and this) moment, the forgiveness was to know that God's Love was immediately available to me - all-ways, always. It happened to me long ago when I realized my life was in the "shitter", I was a drunk and a junkie, mostly because of my dishonesty with myself. When I had this realization that dishonesty had created my twisted little life, and admitted I was lying, and committed to take a different path, and said the prayer "God help me". My life began to be totally different.

All I had to do, I guess, was to accept the Love to flow. It was there waiting. I didn't grow any new Love acceptance organs.

Oh, you may be thinking, why do I say that God doesn't judge - well for me, it's about Love. Love Loves it doesn't judge. And if God is Love then God doesn't judge. God just Loves.

So what I had to do at that moment was look at Andy, and see him for who he was, and just appreciate that he never meant to hurt anyone - on purpose. That many times he was confused, and did things that resulted in apparent "problems" but that those really don't matter to Love. That no matter what I think that I do that is bad, and no matter how bad I might feel, I am always Loved by God. Period. There is no way out of it. It is everywhere and always.

And today, I have learned more and more about my feelings and their connection to the Divine. That they are actually the "program" the "guidance system" that I was given in order to know how to avoid doing the things that were contrary to my, and others, best interest. But I didn't learn this until about 2 years ago.

The Stage of Life

a smile says "I love you",
and so does a frown.
They each express an aspect of life.
Find within the unique treasure,
to be expressed from Source,
each blade of grass, flower, sea
has complete and unique form.
Each molecule, leaf, ray -
unique as only one can.
The nature of life is revealed
by an inner voice, sound, vibration
orchestrated by some Divine purpose,
the mystery to be revealed.
Impositions from outside
also effect how it emerges,
but each in its own nature Share
an ever present expression and adventure
of forms, thoughts, stages within
that reflect out for us to see
the performance of the eons.
There is no need for judgment
and yet, if so, that too
for All That Is - Is
and we all came here to join the show.

Marvel´s Adventures by Mark Skadberg

Today I have a very special sharing. It is from my brother Mark - who wrote and shared this piece at our Mother´s memorial service Sept. 11, 2004. There isn´t much more to share except the incredibly beautiful message.


Mark’s talk at the Memorial Service

When Mom asked me to write something spiritual for her memorial I knew I would focus on what came after—on what her journey might be. But we are still here in this world and just the other day it hit me: for about the twelfth time I wanted to call and ask her the proper way to make beef roast. And she was no longer there to ask.

It is one of the unfortunate aspects of the human condition that you never know how much you love someone until they are gone. I miss her so.

But her last years were calm and peaceful and almost carefree. She found the joy of a multitude of books and they took her to worlds she couldn’t go to for herself. Dad is the one who gets nearly sole credit for making these last peaceful years a reality for her. And I am asking all his friends and family to help him find ways to fill in the great gulf that has been left by her passing and to find joys for himself.

And now we turn to what came after.

Up and Out, Beyond and Back

Her time was close,
she knew it sure
and yes a little fear
But family close
that she could feel.
That she could hear
and know them all,
yes those so far away.
They gave her solace, hope and ease.
Their love began to lift her high
With one last push it was up and out.
The colors swirled around her now
The purple of passion The blue of the sad
The green of regret the yellow of joy.
These colors they swirled and swirled and swirled
A tunnel was formed before.
It was not dark but silver grey
Along this way she slowly passed
Before her now she saw it clear
The white light beckoning
She’d seen it before and back she drew
Afraid of what’s to come
But gentle hands they took her arms
And led her through the light.

To her surprise She found herself seated on a finely carved bench. A soft mist was all around her and it gave her comfort and warmth and drove away the fear. Her guides who she knew but did not know caressed her shoulders, mind and heart.
“They will come soon,” they said and drew away.

Slowly the mist began to drift away and she saw a vast open meadow surrounded by tall trees of many and varied colors and shapes. She took great delight in this and she felt the joy well up inside her. And then she pondered. Had she ever felt pain before or was pain just an illusion?

The mist closed in around her once more and it was soft and warm.

And then they were there, Laurie, and Helen and Anna and Butch. A joy took her that she could not describe but soon this was followed by something else and she remembered things she did not wish to remember in this place.

Questions hard as steel rose into the air and hung there demanding to be answered. ”How could you? Why? Why did this have to be? Why did you go away?”

But the answers came fast and quick and complete. A spiritual, cosmic sense of all that had gone before, the reasons, the mystery that lingered behind every event was now at her command.

And the hard of that steel dissolved like a fog in the summer sun and all, yes all was understood in the light of true and complete understanding.

They lingered a day, a year, an age. No question was left unspoken and no answer was left unsaid. And in the end she knew all of what had happened and mostly importantly why. And all was joy and love and laughter once again.

“We will leave you awhile now but not for long.” They said.

The mist closed around her once more and before her appeared a beautiful tapestry. It was hers. Her life, her loves, her struggles all were woven into this work, and the knowing of the many lives she knew. Each image or symbol was an event, a person, a feeling. All were connected in lines and circles and love. All she had to do was put her finger on an image or a symbol and she understood. She laughed with joy. It was all so complex, yet so, so simple and in the end it was only beautiful. There was no other way to see it. It was.

Then through the mist the elders joined her once again.
“It’s time to play.” They said and smiled.

She rode a comet among the stars and gasped at the wonders that she saw. She swam in a thousand oceans, of a thousand colors, of a thousand worlds, with a thousand people and strange creatures she had never dreamed before—or had she?

She sang in a celestial choir just one of a multitude of voices. And she sang solo while an entire world gazed in wonder, enthralled by the power and beauty of her voice.

And the colors that she saw. Pink trees and purple rivers and mountains of all gold. The worlds she saw were unnumbered but all were strange and beautiful and real.

She held the universe in her hand and saw it as it was--a living breathing thing. And she played golf with an electron as a ball, and did it just for fun. “Hole in one!” she shouted with glee as a nucleus burst apart.

And last she rode a unicorn along a rainbow that stretched a thousand miles. And she found the pot of gold. As she peered inside she found to her delight that the gold inside was Love—yes merely, just merely love. She left the pot, the pot of gold, for someone else less fortunate. For in Love--both within and without she was wealthy beyond all count.

But then in time she began to still and her spirit calmed and became quiet once more.

She found herself on the same bench and the warm mist closed about her once more. She saw before her a small blue/green planet on the edge of a galaxy and it drew close before her. She balanced it on her finger as she watched it slowly revolve. It was such a pretty little thing.

She stayed and gazed for a day, a year, an age.
And then she called the elders to her side.
“Playtime was fun but there’s work to be done.” She said.
“Indeed?” They asked.
“Indeed.” She said. “The world I think, it needs me now.”
“Indeed?” They asked.
“Indeed.” She said. “There’s more to learn, to teach, to Love. It’s time—it’s time to try again.
“Indeed.” They said.

And it was so.

Presence

Breathe . . . .
Breathe . . . .
deeply Breathe . . . .
slowly . . . look around
keep breathing . . . noticing
feel your eyes blink
notice the sensations on your skin
your feet
Breathe
remember to notice
your breath
are you thinking?
are you hungry?
be calm, breathe slowly
notice the wind
the sunshine
relax . . .
enjoy . . .
pay attention
remember to breathe noticeably, consciously
as often
as possible . . .

Poetry

Attempting to capture in words -
collective expressions, limitations.
How to describe the essence of a flower,
The feeling of connection, to anything,
The experience of thunder and lightening,
The rapture of sensations of attention placed on toes in the sand.
How can I describe the rain on my face?,
or on my tongue.
The satisfaction of a cool drink on a hot summer day.
A label is a very limited way to describe,
much less explain all the fullness of life,
in any one moment, if one stops to notice -
the breath flowing in,
the little aches and pains,
the joy of embrace of one loved,
the experience in fullness at sunrise or sunset.
Where could I possibly begin?
To describe just one day, one hour, one moment,
of my life, my thoughts, my feelings.
I cannot . . .

Life that Transpires

Walk away from the magic show.
Do this and the next performances will be a no-go.
Dancing puppets on a stage.
For millenia it´s been the rage.
It is only real from your energy.
Feelings dark and festering realities.
The solutions, eliminations simply involve,
just turning away with confidence and resolve.
Stepping back and seeing the truth.
The show´s a distraction, of this there is proof.
Past a thin veil there does reside,
a reality of wonder, abundance abides.
Fueled by a force, an energy fueled by love.
It comes from all places, spaces, as from above.
But also transactions, currencies, exchanges below.
From interpenetrating emergences caught in a flow.
Connected, interspersed, integrated and dominated.
With the true presence within all, and interjected.
Continually providing as waves of sound.
Expressing itself as particles, realities that abound.
Its first task was life, undeniably blessed.
Strangely manifesting, creating from the One at rest.
This stepping back, unresisting process,
happens naturally, with no regress.
Being itself contains the code.
We´re all in it, there´s no other abode.
But the challenge we chose to create.
Something emerging, coalescing, a process so great,
that the wonder of life cannot be denied.
The source of our experience, being, can be relied.
Simply by asking ourSelves what it is that we really want.
Which is so deep and shallow, it´s not just a front.
Those things that we watch on "the world´s stage",
the illusion the specter of fear,
our essence the Truth is so near.
It´s really not here, there, or elsewhere.
The model we want or desire is so fair.
Perfect balance, knowing, supporting our trek.
This journey of thinking, feeling and apparent unrest.
Is simply the dream of the dreamer, who resides in our head,
and our hearts, souls, molecules and even our bed.
Everywhere that we look with love and desire,
we will find ourselves and this life that transpires.

Who Questions?

I ask myself
And what of this life?
Where are we going?
How can this be?
This knowing. This experience.
This presence
That places me in the center
of this great cosmos
revealing secrets
one by one
Who asks you, who you are?
no one does anything for us,
except all is done
by the One, which is inseparable
consistent, flowing
living, growing
where this all leads it knows
duality creates the space
for ultimate expression
testing possibilities
examining results
leading perpetually to -
One understanding.

Ignorance is Not Bliss

July 25, 2010

Bliss is a state of alignment with the Divine. We are at a place where ignoring for the convenience of keeping the status quo is not acceptable. If all on the world were in harmony, all people fed, clothed, housed, no wars, and no destruction of the environment was taking place we might excuse resting on our laurels. But we are not there. As the light of the truth shines upon our being the creators and maintaners of conditions which are not in alignment with Reverence for Life we discover we have responsibility. As we discover our minds have greater capacity for understanding, we can apply that knowledge to develop ways to Be which are in alignment with Spirit. Spirit rewards alignment with true bliss, peace, tranquility, appreciation, expanding life. This is expressed on an individual level as feelings of ease and comfort, also less conflict. The collective experience of humanity is a mirror for our individual expressions and will result in the same rewards, inner contentment with an unfolding, expanding of horizons of what life is really about.

But to achieve this new freedom, happiness and expanded life we must look to the shadows of our lives, and our minds, and discover whether how we are living and doing align with Reverence for Life. At first this might seem difficult. Fear tends to dog our efforts as if what we find will be something terrible, something we cannot face. But there is nothing in creation that is not good. And it is also the case with these areas that we have been ignoring within ourselves and in the greater humanity. We will discover great wisdoms and treasures from whence we can grow our new life and re-create the world. The metaphorical ashes from whence the Phoenix rises. Or another analogy is that from these remnants of a conveniently ignored way of thinking and being, we discover these frailties to be fertilizer for our new garden. The garden of a new life and world. It is apparent that our ways of many things are not in alignment with Spirit - polluted water, air, diminished soil, etc., etc. And the solutions are really elementary. These are well within our collective grasp and of course as individuals. In fact most of the solutions already exist.

We must ask ourselves why are we unwilling to implement these ways of being? What are we afraid of? It is apparent to me that these situations are about looking in our own closets, so to speak, to examine what skeletons are there. In truth we cannot hide from ourselves. We really know everything, whether we currently understand how this could be true. We cannot look to anyone but ourselves for the solutions. And we all have to take responsibility. There is no one who is going to clean up our mess for us. The next question is "What am I going to do?" Am I willing to let go of my "conveniences", my fears, in order to change? Am I willing to let go of all of my habits, at least those that do not align with Spirit (measured by Reverence for Life)?

I am positive that on the other side of this "letting go" is a whole new array of "conveniences", blessings, adventures that are so far beyond our imagined possibilities, at least, and especially, measured against this reality of collective mediocrity that we find ourselves immersed in. In fact, our track record in regards to our environmental position is a failure. On our current course as a species we will not survive. If you want a test, go consume five of the new cleaning products, or chemicals that are being put out into our environment for a couple of weeks and see how long you survive.

A few weeks back a very simple idea came to me for how we should decide whether or not a new chemical should be unleashed into the environment. It would be "can you drink it"? Radical? Of course based upon our current paradigm. But in Spirit, in Reverence for Life, I think we would discover it to be the only practical solution. In order for us to survive we need to be able to drink from the rivers again, to breathe the air.

I suspect, or at some level know, that once we start acting with this level of commitment to Reverence for Life (or honoring God´s creation) that a whole new spectrum of possibilities will open up to us. Things beyond those proposed by science fiction, or in our dreams. This is because this will allow us to tap into the powers of Creation, of Life, of Love. Instead of going against the flows of life, which is apparent from the resistance and destructiveness of our current methods, we will tap into the force and power that created All That Is. If it can do this, like create the entire Cosmos and all life (not even considering the infinite), what possibilities exist if we work in cooperation with it? Try to imagine the possibilities.

And this is not about getting angry or blaming anyone, especially ourselves. That is another trap of the old consciousness, guilt, blame, etc. And we did it this way for a reason. We may not see why with clarity for awhile, but eventually we will.

The key is to take responsibility, change our behaviors, and act from an ethic of Reverence for Life, or the Golden Law. But this is not just about people, it must be for all of life. Because all of life, physical, material expression is an expression of Spirit.

Two more poems

Witness

peace

tranquility

balance

harmony

flow

life

abundance

divinity

expansion

inclusion

expression

beauty

quiet

silence

patience

persistence

cooperation

sharing

exchange

cycle

these are words,

that describe,

the teachings,

of Gaia

Presence

how can it be

that my presence, my Being

can experience so many

different sensations, perceptions

feelings, thoughts

like an ever flowing river

braided typologies

transitions, expressions

combined within this beautiful temple

the vessel where I reside

the presence which I re-cognize

as I AM

Preparation for Re-Creation

This essay is included in the Introduction to my book "Vision - We are Re-Creating the World", which outlines a variety of strategies for revitalization of regions and empowerment of individuals, stimulated through grass-roots initiatives and the utilization of technologies but protecting the natural environment.

Preparation for Re-Creation

I don´t think it is any mistake that we call our leisure time recreation, “re-creation”. The way that we come to transform our lives is through fun, laughter, enjoyment. We have become as adults to take things so seriously. But the Truth is that the pleasure of existence and experience is our greater purpose. The serious issues are just a story. A fabrication. 

We have an opportunity to re-create the world. And we do that with our relationship with the “present”. Do you think it is just coincidence that these words that are used for these things? “Recreation”, “Present”. And we are not supposed to spend the majority of our time serious, stodgy, miserable to get a few moments of joy or a week or two per year of paid vacation. Jesus said we will BE in the new earth if we become like children again. This is partially what it means to be “born again”.

What if we could start all over again, creating the world of our dreams?

Experience is a pointer, something to be learned from. Don´t regret mistakes, take them as lessons learned. 

No regrets! Guilt from past events is a prison.

Have Fun!!!!

Be like a child!
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:1 

“Let me spring up from the ashes of your ignorance like the flame that burned brightly in the simplicity of your childhood. Look to the bible of love, my living presence in your heart, rather than to the wordy debates of little minds on the written word of old.” – Ken Carey, Starseed Transmissions.

“All who receive their impressions of the world as a small child receives them, without judgment, with love and acceptance, will receive my awareness. And all who receive me, receive as well, the consciousness of the one who sent me, the consciousness of the Creator himself. This is the greatest gift.”
Carey, Starseed Transmissions. p. 83

“I will come to you first with the consciousness of a child, for it is thus that you will learn again of your world. Whoever receives this child-consciousness for my sake, will receive he who has sent me later when the child is grown in spirit. Receive as little children and enter my life.”
Carey, Starseed Transmissions.

Being vs Doing
This book gives a plethora of ideas that show different ways that we can come together and “Be the change you want to see in the world” (Mahatma Gandhi), but it starts with you.

This book is the result of experiential education. Extension education, which you will learn more about later in this book, has the motto “Learning by doing”. This is a wonderful idea and really is a better model for education than sitting in a classroom learning from books about obscure topics. But I had a realization while preparing this Prelude.

I think we have gotten the cart before the horse in much of our philosophies and understandings. Before we can “Do”, upon an adequate basis, we have to know who we are and how to “BE”. Thus, a new learning model might be “Being” then “Doing”.

We´ve somehow gotten to the place where “doing” has taken the place of “being”. It´s kind of like running around in a hamster wheel. What are we really doing with all of this work we are doing? Have you ever thought about your work? Who benefits? Does it make you happy? Are there negative repercussions? Do you experience joy with your work? Do you feel alive?

Then the important question arises, how can you “BE” if you don´t know who or what you are? By the way, you are not your name, nor your job title, nor even a human – we made all this stuff up, these are just words, and you are more than a word, and even the ideas of these things are minuscule compared to who and what we really are.

We are limited by our thoughts. We can only go as high as our beliefs about ourselves allow. Our fears, thoughts, beliefs are like the walls of the building that we exist within. If we are to experience a new life, or re-create the world we have to start here.

"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think."
Benjamin Disraeli
1804-1881, British Prime Minister

“I am not doing any work”, thinks the man who is in harmony, who sees the truth. For in seeing or hearing, smelling or touching, in eating or walking, or sleeping, or breathing, in talking or grasping or relaxing, and even in opening or closing his eyes, he remembers: “It is the servants of my soul that are working”,
Bhagavad Gita 5: 8, 9.

Know Thyself
Gnothi Seauton—"Know Thyself". These words were inscribed above the entrance to the temple of Apollo at Delphi, site of the sacred Oracle.

The first Thinking Rule from “When Love Guides Your Thoughts” is “Know Thyself”. This would merge nicely with Shakespeare´s famous quote “To thine own self be true”. But do we really know who and what we are? That is an important part of this process, as preparation for this book. We have to be willing to ask the big questions, and really desire to get the answers.

One, truth, that is at least relative to this planet, is that human beings are not a separate organism from the Earth. If you think this is the case consider this. If you went out in space, without a space suit or ship, how long do you think you would survive?

And it is up to each individual to go on this discovery process themselves. A few books to help in the process have been recommended to achieve that end, but these are just suggestions, there are innumerable sources that will help people find their way along this path. One way to describe this path is the pursuit of “Truth”. The following provides an introduction to possibly the most important process that we could ever endeavor upon, to discover who and what we are, and to learn how to think.

“Only if you know who you are, your biases, etc., can you apply equal emphasis in an opposite direction when you know you are dealing with an area you tend to be biased in so that a balanced perspective can be attained. But this is only a temporary solution, you must rid yourself of all biases, prejudices, complexes, and emotionally immature motivations. You did not get the way you are in a single day, nor can you undo the person you are in a single day. Nevertheless you can get where you want to go much quicker if you know where you want to go and are not hindered by false conceptions of the world. Your life thinking up to now has been mostly haphazard and undirected. Start directing your thoughts toward the person you wish to be and you will see as the years pass you have become that person. You are what you think. The cumulative effort is great but the rewards are even greater. I say with the greatest intensity of my being that it is well worth the effort to know thyself.”
Skadberg, When Love Guides Your Thoughts p. 25

Thinking Rule #I. To think correctly the first step is to KNOW THYSELF (44).

The Truth
“It is the author’s very careful observation that only if the Will has as its desire to see the truth above all, can the intelligence of man be used properly.”

After this, and this applies to this book because I have claimed many of the ideas to be based on “common sense”, we move into the area of how we begin to live this process of seeking the truth.

“The above explains the phenomena of common sense. Common sense is intellectually understood by all but the most dense. Yet very few are able to use that common sense because they must make it seep through the subconscious or change the Will in order for it to have any effect. This occurs when a man has chosen as his Will to know the truth above all. Then to understand common sense and apply such is child’s play. To quit smoking can be done overnight, but only if the Will is properly oriented.”

“The Will and ego can be compared to a shark which knowing what it wants will stop at nothing to get it. It has no sophisticated reasoning powers, only crude desire. The sad part of all of this is that if the Will would allow itself to be ruled by the intellect it would in fact get much more gratification than otherwise. It really is in the best interest of the Will to submit to discipline and order so that the whole body can enjoy the benefits of stopping harmful habits. By acting upon common sense and from the higher perspective of restraint, now new possibilities arise heretofore that were not able to be seen. But alas, the Will requires great efforts to tame, but the rewards of such are also great.

Thinking Rule #2. Unless the Will has as its most important desire the desire to know truth above all, then all observances will have as the prime motive the self-gratification of the Will, which always leads to distortions of facts.”
Skadberg, “When Love Guides Your Thoughts”

Another truth, beyond being connected to Mother Earth, we are a collective being. The extent of this really boggles the mind. But for our purposes, and for the context of this book, this relates to humans on this world. In our current status, the following quote points to our collective state of being, but then also points to the only true solution to our dilemma.

“Mankind is like an intelligent beast spiritually undeveloped. Because the intelligence is not balanced by LOVE insanity prevails.”
Skadberg, “When Love Guides Your Thoughts”

Coping with insanity only requires one thing.

“The only really sure way to avoid insanity is to cultivate your LOVE. LOVE in its deeper sense. Related to love you have for a child, a puppy, or flower, or magnificent sunset, remember a time in your life when you were filled with your highest ever aspirations, or your greatest happiness, a moment when life was most wonderful when you were like superman because of your happiness, think of these when you seem defeated. There is no failure, there is only learning, correcting miscalculations. Believe like Abraham Lincoln “I will work, and when I am ready, my time will come.” There is not one of you who cannot make the world better in some way.”
Skadberg, “When Love Guides Your Thoughts”

“He who sees that all work, everywhere, is only the work of nature; and that the Spirit watches this work—he sees the truth.”
Bhagavad Gita 13: 29.

Tap into the Now!
Our lives, and thus the world, change when we step outside of the past and avoid venturing into the future where we really have no business. We live now. We can take all of the lessons learned, from our past experiences, without the drama, trauma, and emotional baggage and they can help guide us, to learn from our “mistakes”, which really don´t exist except to lead us away from the experiences that we might want to avoid. It happens on an individual and collective basis. But we have to share the joy with others.

The Now is where we exist and can tap into the power behind All That Is.

 

“The most important, the primordial relationship in your life is your relationship with the Now, or rather with whatever form the Now takes, that is to say, what is or what happens. If your relationship with the Now is dysfunctional, that dysfunction will be reflected in every relationship and every situation you encounter.”
Tolle, The New Earth p. 200

“It has been said: “Stillness is the language God speaks, and everything else is a bad translation.” Stillness is really another word for space. Becoming conscious of stillness whenever we encounter it in our lives will connect us with the formless and timeless dimension within ourselves, that which is beyond thought, beyond ego. It may be the stillness that pervades the world of nature, or the stillness in your room in the early hours of the morning, or the silent gap between sounds. Stillness has no form—that is why through thinking we cannot become aware of it. Thought is form. Being aware of stillness means to be still. To be still is to be conscious without thought.”
Tolle, A New Earth p. 256

As a preparation for making the most of this book (reference to VISION: We ARE Re-Creating the World, by Andrew Skadberg), and its suggestions I have one recommendation. Spend enough time in nature for it to touch you. At first it might seem boring but that is because most of us are over stimulated, or addicted to “doing” – whether it be watching TV, shopping, working, spending time on the computer, etc., etc.

There is a lot going on in nature but you have to quiet down enough to appreciate.

Finally, a quote that points to the truth of what can be discovered as one communes with the most clear, or unclouded for most people, expression of the One—Nature.

“In times when fear patterns predominate, the laws that humans require are many and complex. But when those patterns are broken up, as is shortly to be, all human laws shall be abolished. In the presence of my spirit, there is but one law, and that is the law of love; love all, love what is, love yourself as you are, and love me as I express through you. No matter how diverse expressions appear to be, realize that they are all differentiations of your own essence in various contexts. Love them all. See the unity of life.”

“The law of love is more than a law, it is the way of life. What do you think causes the sprouts in the spring? What do you think brings fruit to the branch? It is all love, all life, calling out the potential of this planet. Be in and of this love, and the many confusing laws of old will be absorbed in the glorious expression of life on Earth.”
Carey, Starseed Transmissions

“Collective human consciousness and life on our planet are intrinsically connected. “A new heaven” is the emergence of a transformed state of human consciousness, and “a new earth” is its reflection in the physical realm. Since human life and human consciousness are intrinsically one with the life of the planet, as the old consciousness dissolves, these are bound to be synchronistic geographic and climatic natural upheavals in many parts of the planet, some which we are already witnessing now." – Tolle, A New Earth p. 23

"And when a man sees that the God in himself is the same God in all that is, he hurts not himself by hurting others: then he goes indeed to the highest path."
Bhagavad Gita 13: 28

Love´s Embrace

Loves Embrace

if we could only see

how much love embraces us

we would never be ashamed

never seek to blame

surrounds us

envelopes us

creates us

it is our divine decree

to be

this love that abounds

this is what our life was meant to be

to be free

to love one another

to share the deep cosmic truth

that seeks to express

itself

in our life

My Shadow, My Power

June 12, 2010

Life has guided me
Without my knowing
Inexorably toward some destination
I cannot see where
But now I know, it does not matter
Because all that I have gone through
Is where I was supposed to go
What I believed has now revealed,
itself to be an illusion
I believed the stories I was told
Thinking too I entered a prison
One contained in the story
of suffering, war, starvation
The valley of the shadow of death
Is the reflection of my own thoughts
Those I needed to entertain
Possessed as a spirit in a ghost
The ghost of my thinking world
Disconnected from the Spirit of life
The ever present energy of life
Pulsating, expanding, omniscient
This is the Truth
But to really know life
I had to experience something else
This “other” created in my mind
A “reality” situated outside of Love
Somehow floating, entertaining my mind
With an eternal cacophony of chaos
Thoughts in a void
But this is not me
It all is me, I am one with the One
But One cannot experience One until
There is something other
So in this way I too
have been playing a game
Discovering the power
In my ability to create
Realities in thought apart
From Truth ever present
Of Love´s eternal grace
The Source of my Being is Love
Together immersed in the One
But to appreciate this ecstatic state
I had to have of none
The futility of a thought reality
Attached to a dream
This is the shadow of the valley
Or those dancing on the walls
But when I turned around I found
The truth of being ever one
This is my freedom I´ve been seeking
No place else but here and now.

Never Outside

In one moment, instant, or not
a dream appeared, a thought, an idea
a cosmic creative moment in the mind
of the One
an instantaneous spark of inspiration
Ah Ha! - an exhalation, a breath, an expression
Life, light, energy
something and nothing
in and out
an incredible idea
a word spoken, or not
something seen, or not
thus began our great adventure
an expansion out of one of thought
causal, astral, physical
consciousness imbibed with Spirit
into form, knowing, experience
catapulted, interpenetrated, manifested
myriad uncountable forms
thinking, feeling, creating, wondering
what, why, where, when, how, who
individuated expression ejaculated
into a grand cosmic dance
sometimes forgetting, fearing, killing
suffering, hating, torturing
disease, loneliness, separation
all ideas
experiences
expressed as an elaborate experiment
of the one source
but nothing, absolutely nothing
can exist, express, create, breathe
outside of the one substance, matrix, field
not one quark, atom, molecule, god, universe
can exist outside
for even one nanosecond
allways, moment to moment
All That Is sustained
loved, fed, nurtured, guided
for eternity
Why are we afraid?

How to Live

Ok let’s face it all forms of government have failed to perform. All organized religions have failed. Economics, the money system works bass-ackwards. The idea of survival of the fittest is not how the universe operates. The forms of organized religion and governments have damaged the planet and allowed the majority of the population to live in squalor and misery. The rich have been miserable too, because living prosperously when others are suffering will not ultimately lead to a fulfilled life.

So what principles can we establish by which to create an ever expanding life? How can we turn things around? If we were to “go back to the drawing board” and start over, what could we do?

This idea came to me many years ago when I thought about personal responsibility inside of corporations. Ultimately, there is no “passing the buck” in life, even though “chain of command” has created this preposterous idea: that if someone is my master or boss, and they tell me what to do, I have no responsibility for my actions. This is worse than a lemming mentality. For example: my boss gets an idea that it is a good idea to jump off a cliff, so he tests the idea by telling me to jump off the cliff. He’s my boss, so I have to do it. What happens, I die, or am severely crippled for the rest of my life. Now in truth both of these possibilities are not as bad as we think. In fact, at least in this world, they can lead to great demonstration. However, the point of argument here is, just because my boss made the decision, am I not responsible for the action?

What happens to my boss, maybe he doesn’t die, but in a way, hasn’t he suffered a worse consequence? Isn’t that how it really works? That if I benefit at the expense of another, whether it be another person, another life form, or the planet, I ultimately lose out much more – because like the law of giving is multiplicative, so is the Golden Law, the retributions for ignorance, especially intentional, will come back around, multiplied. Cosmically, or some would say karmically, I will pay a price, some day. But this too is “bass-ackwards”, for the reason “not” to do something is not about saving my own hide.

However, beyond the potential benefits gained from passing from this life, or the powerful demonstrations that can come from people who overcome physical and mental challenges, the question remains did we come here to Live or to Die?, at least in this physical form. If we could learn the lessons of Love, truly, I believe that we would have to answer that we are born to Live, period. This conclusion is what Albert Schwietzer referred to as “will to live”. His simple but profound realization, that all life forms are born and have the creative source’s inherent aim “to survive”, to live a full life, then led him to realize the fact that, to live in absolute harmony with other beings, and ultimately with himself, he needed to establish a foundation, or “ethic” for his existence. His epiphany he called “reverence for life” – and that means all life – including insects and plants.

"So what is the point here?", you ask - "I don't see the 'How to Live"'in this" and "where is this all coming from?" I don't know, but it feels like inspiration. I woke up this morning, after a wonderful Facebook chat last night with a high school friend Tom Dooley who has been on a similar life trek as I. It’s as if he and I ventured out walking from Ames, Iowa, as high school acquaintances, to experience the world and life in all its trials and tribulations, and through some set of serendipitous circumstances found that our wandering, weaving paths, ended meeting squarely head-on again after 30 years.

I found myself all last night dreaming, but also half-dreaming, about some of Tom’s experiences and insights that he has come to. That Everything is only One! Everything is a mirror! But also as I was dreaming, and half-dreaming, I was scripting a message to Tom about my admiration for his journey. Acknowledging his accomplishments and dedication in pursuit of “the Truth”. And I’m not talking about the Christian truth, or the Buddhist truth, or the American Indian truth, or the United States truth, etc. – I’m talking about the One Truth – the One Truth that I think Christ realized, that Siddhartha realized, and that Tom Dooley realizes. There is only One thing here.

I also told him at one point that I have now realized that I had profound epiphanies when I was young. He said "Like what?" And on the spot I didn't remember this one about "personal responsibility", but this morning I did, and I became inspired to write this.

But what does this mean - the idea that there is "only One thing here"? How can this Truth, which many call love, which isn’t what it really is, because love is only a word, that has been tremendously misunderstood, but it comes as close as any word, be realized. How does one go about day to day, to make decisions in a backwards world, to move toward a world that reflects the Love of the One? How do we move from the world of wars, of suffering, of disease, of disharmony and pain to the world of love and harmony and peace and understanding? How do we move away from the “status quo” where people are searching for the truth outside only, instead of inside and then reflecting the beauty that they discover to the outside and then have it reflected back? How do we move out of the existing world we live each day where the economic system seems to be designed to destroy the very thing where the bounty comes from? “Modern” economics kills the geese that lay the golden eggs. And we blame it all on “greed”. The basic premise of Adam Smith’s economic model of scarcity, is the catalyst for greed which feeds “fear of lack”, that puts us in the modality of “get what you can for yourself and your loved ones”, but damn the rest of them. Who is responsible for all this stuff – these ideas, these theories, these beliefs, these excuses? We are! Each one of us. As individuals, we collectively contribute to the continuation of all the things we say or believe are bad. So that is where the solutions to these “apparent dilemmas” must begin. At the individual level. One person at a time. And the amazing thing is, that if I change my mind about these things that something magical happens: I will see the world differently, and subsequently the world will change!

These ideas of what is wrong or who is to blame are all based on a cop-out. If we say these things are “reality” we’ve given up: given up some of our greatest attributes and capabilities such as, imagination, agility, and adaptation. It’s not even about corporate greed or government’s incompetence or political corruption. Because in the end corporations, governments and political systems are composed of people, supposedly created and designed to serve the people. I think it comes down, basically, to personal responsibility. That I need to take responsibility, to the best of my ability, for every thought, action and deed. I would say simply that the world would change significantly if we guided our thoughts and actions by Love. At some level that should be enough. The seven "virtues of the heart" (ps): admiration, compassion, forgiveness, humility, gratitude, understanding and valor provide a wonderful “acid test” of our thoughts, actions and behavior. But how does that convert to practical methods? How do we convert the wonderful “ideas” of the seven virtues into a “practical technique” – maybe just by asking ourselves a few questions.

I suggest this list as a starting point:
- am I being asked to do something that I would do if I had to take personal responsibility for the action – or if I were to receive the negative repercussions?
- have I given some thought to how others might or might not benefit? – and this means as comprehensive a list as possible.
- am I keeping secrets?
- am I telling lies?
- do I think I can pull the wool over someone’s eyes and gain personal benefit at their expense?
- of all possible choices of action, is my action the best choice for other people, to nature, the planet, and myself?
- am I constantly challenging myself to do better? This includes helping others raise their awareness of this level of personal responsibility?
- if I were being watched by a sort of “quality overseer” would I feel ashamed of my efforts, or would I feel that I have done my best?
- am I trying to justify my actions or explain with excuses?
- am I expecting someone else to clean up my mess (this means in every aspect of my life)?
- am I willing to consider the application of “Reverence for Life” in my life?
- am I willing to take time to measure my thoughts and actions against the seven virtues of the heart: admiration, compassion, forgiveness, humility, gratitude, understanding and valor

And finally, do I realize that there is One infinite Loving presence that is overseeing all of this? So really there are not big deals. And all that I have written here doesn’t matter much at all, in the whole scheme of things, but at least I did my best.

Of course all of these things roll into the “Golden Rule”, which I believe is really The “Golden Law”, but this short list of questions provides a practical way to evaluate any given action. The fact of the matter is, that inside each one of us, is the mechanism or guidance program that will answer each of these questions – perfectly – that is if we are clear with our feelings. It’s been called “our conscience”, but it speaks to us through feelings – anxious, angry, painful or fearful (bad) feelings mean we’re making a mistake. Smooth calm, happy, comfortable feelings mean it’s a pretty good decision. The program associated with our heart feelings will guide us with absolute clarity, if we take the time to notice what they are saying to us. The questions provided here are intended to establish a means by which to measure the viability of each decision.

(ps) James of the Wingmakers (www.wingmakers.com) six virtues of the heart - I added gratitude to make it seven