21 WAYS TO STAY IN THE PEACE – Byron Katie

 

This article is taken from: http://returningtohouse.wordpress.com/2013/01/07/21-ways-to-stay-in-the-peace-byron-katie/

 

From Byron Katie
Compiled by Mary Lynn Hendrix

 

Introduction

 

The following are simple, yet powerful practices that can give you new ways of looking at your life circumstances, and in that, create new possibilities for making choices that will bring you greater alignment with your personal integrity. These exercises are developments of “The Work(TM)” which Byron Katie offers in seminars to provide clarity of mind and honesty of heart which ultimately leads to peace.

 

1. Reversing Judgements

Practice noticing when you judge or criticize someone or something. For example, in a grocery store line, you might be impatient and think the person in front of you is disorganized and rude. Quickly turn your judgment around and ask yourself: “Is it just as true about me? Am I rude? (Am I rude sometimes; to others – or to myself?) Am I being rude inside of me when I think they are rude?”

This exercise takes your attention off the “other” and places your attention on you. Forgiveness naturally results. Placing the blame or judgment on someone else leaves you powerless to change your experience; taking responsibility for your beliefs and judgments gives you the power to change them.

Remember, beyond the appearance of who it is you are looking at, it is always God disguised, standing in front of you so that you can know yourself. Reversing judgments allows complete forgiveness. Forgiveness leads to awareness of one’s self, and reestablishes personal integrity.

 

2. The Three Kinds of Business

Notice when you hurt that you are mentally out of your business. If you’re not sure, stop and ask, “Mentally, whose business am I in?” There are only three kinds of business in the universe, mine, yours, and God’s. Simple! Whose business is it if an earthquake happens? God’s business. Whose business is it if your neighbor down the street has an ugly lawn? Your neighbor’s business. Whose business is it if you are angry at your neighbor down the street because they have an ugly lawn? Your business. Life is simple, it is internal.

So, count, in five minute intervals, how many times you are in someone else’s business mentally. Notice when you give uninvited advice or offer your opinion about something (aloud or silently). Ask yourself: “Am I in their business? Did they ask me for my advice?” And more importantly, “Can I take the advice I am offering and apply it to my life?”

 

3. Being in Nobody’s Business

After working with the practice of staying out of other’s business, try to stay out of your own business as well. Hold lightly whatever you think you know about yourself. “I am contained within this physical body. Is it really true? Can I really know that it’s true? What do I get by holding that belief?” There is a widespread belief that we are our bodies, and we will die. “Who would I be without the belief?”

 

4. “Detaching” from Your Body/Your Story

Try speaking about yourself, for a period of time, in third person, rather than as I or me. Instead of saying, “I’m going to lunch”, say “She’s going to lunch”, (referring to yourself), or “This one is going to lunch.” Do this with a friend for an hour, the afternoon, or the entire day. Eliminate the use of all personal pronouns (I, me, we). Refer to yourself and the other in third person. For example, “How is that one (or this one) today? Does he want to go to the park?” Experience impersonally the body, the stories and the preferences which you think you are.

 

5. Speaking in the Present Tense

Become mindful of how often your conversations focus on the past or future. Be aware of the verbs you use: was, did, will, are going to, etc. To speak of the past in the present is to reawaken and recreate it fully in the present, if only in our minds, and then we are lost to what is present for us now. To speak of the future is to create and live with what is but a fantasy in our minds. If you want to experience fear, think of the future. If you want to experience shame and guilt, think of the past.

 

6. Doing the Dishes

“Doing the dishes” is a practice of learning to love the action that is in front of you. Your inner voice or intuition guides you all day long to do simple things such as doing the dishes, driving to work or sweeping the floor. Allow the sanctity of simplicity. Listening to your inner voice and then acting on its suggestions with implicit trust creates a life that is more graceful, effortless and miraculous.

 

7. Listening to the Voice of the Body

The body is the voice of your mind, and it speaks to you in physical movement as muscular contractions – as twitches, twinges, tickles and tension, just to name a few. Become aware of how often you move away from peace or stillness. Practise stillness and let your body speak to you of where your mind contracts, no matter how subtle the flickering contraction may be. When you notice a sensation, inquire within, “What situation or contracted thought is triggering this physical sensation? Am I out of alignment with my integrity in this circumstance, and if so, where? Am I willing to let go of this belief or thought that causes my body to contract?” Listen and allow the answers to guide you, and return to the peace and clarity within.

 

8. Reporting to Yourself

This exercise can help in healing fear and terror. Practice reporting events to yourself as if a circumstance you find yourself in is actually a news story and you are the roving reporter. Announce exactly what your surroundings are and what’s happening “on the scene” at that very moment. Fear is always the result of projecting a re-creation of the past into the now or the future. If you find yourself fearful, find the core belief and inquire: “Is this really true that I need to be fearful in this situation? What is actually happening right now, physically? Where is my body (hands, arms, feet, legs, head)? What do I see (trees, walls, windows, sky)?”

Impersonalising our stories gives us an opportunity to look at circumstances more objectively, and choose our responses to what life brings. Living in our minds, believing our untrue thoughts is a good way to scare ourselves to death, and it can appear in form as old age, cancer, degeneration, high blood pressure, etc.

 

9. Literal Hearing

Practise listening to others in the most literal sense, believing exactly what they say, and do your best to resist falling into your own interpretations about the information they share with you.

For example, someone might compliment you on how beautiful you are, and you interpret that as an implication that the person has ulterior motives. Our interpretations of what we hear people say to us are often far more painful or frightening than what people actually say. We can hurt ourselves with our misconceptions and our thinking for others. Try trusting that what they say is exactly what they mean: not more, not less. Hear people out. Catch yourself when you want to finish a sentence for someone either aloud or in your mind. Listen. It can be amazing to hear what comes out when we allow others to complete their thoughts without interruption. And, when we are busy thinking we know what they are about to say, we are missing what they are actually saying.

You might want to consider these questions: “What can be threatened if I listen and hear literally? Do I interrupt because I don’t want to really know what they have to say? Do I interrupt to convince them I know more than they do? Am I attempting to portray an image of self-confidence and control? Who would I be without the need to possess those qualities? Is there a fear of appearing unintelligent? Would people leave me if I heard them literally, and no longer engage in manipulative games?”

 

10. Speaking Honestly and Literally

Speak literally. Say what you mean without justification, without any desire to manipulate, and without concern about how another may interpret your words. Practice not being careful. Experience the freedom this brings.

 

11. Watching the Play

See yourself in a balcony, watching your favorite drama about you and what distresses you. Watch the story on the stage below. Notice how you have seen this drama performed hundreds, perhaps thousands of times. Watch this until you find yourself becoming bored. The performers are having to exaggerate their parts to keep your attention. Notice when you get honest with your boredom, you get up from your seat, leave the balcony, exit the playhouse and step outside. Always know you can re-visit. Who would you be without your story?

 

12. Watching a Second Version of the Play

Write your story from the eyes and mind of another. Write as many different versions with as many different outcomes as you like. Notice what you notice.

 

13. Exercising Polarity

If you find yourself dwelling on a negative thought, practice going to the opposite positive extreme or polarity. When you catch yourself slipping back into negativity, choose again to return to the positive polarity and be present with your conscious choice; feel the truth of it. There is only love, and what doesn’t appear as love is a disguised call for love. It is your birthright to live in the positive polarity of love and truth.

 

14. Self Loving Process

Make a list of everything you love about someone and share it with them. Then, give yourself everything that is on the list. You may also recognize that what you love about someone else is just as true of you. Then allow the fullness of it to be expressed in your life.

 

15. Coming from Honesty

Practice moving and responding honestly. Laugh, cry, scream, and speak as it is genuinely true for you in each moment. Be a child again; act in full integrity with your feelings. Don’t let beliefs compromise your integrity. For example, practise leaving a room honestly without manipulating those you leave behind with a polite excuse. Live your truth without explaining yourself.

 

16. Asking for What You Want – Giving Yourself What You Want

Ask for what you want, even though it may feel bold or awkward. People don’t know what you want until you ask them. The act of asking is a validation of the awareness that you deserve to have what you want. If others are unable or unwilling to accommodate your request, give it to yourself.

 

17. Awareness of You

Recognize that the one in front of you is you. Beyond all appearances and personalities is the essence of goodness, which is you. Remembering your presence in all form will bring you immediately into the present moment, in awe of the fullness therein. The person before you will become an opportunity to know yourself. The heart overflows with love and gratitude, humbly saying, “Oh yes, this person or situation is here for me to learn about who I am.”

 

18. Self Gratitude

For a simple twenty-four hours, stop looking outside yourself for validation. On the other side of that you become the experience of gratitude.

 

19. The Vanity Mirror

If you want to see who you are not, look in the mirror. Use the mirror once a day only. Who would you be without your mirror?

 

20. Beyond Justification

Begin to notice how often you explain or justify yourself, your words, actions, decisions, etc. Who are you trying to convince? And what is the story you are perpetuating? Become aware of your use of the word “because” or “but” when you speak. Stop your sentence immediately. Begin again. Justification is an attempt to manipulate the other person; decide to be still and know, and BE CAUSE.

 

21. The Gift of Criticism

Criticism is an incredible opportunity to grow. Here are some steps on how to receive criticism and benefit from it. When someone says you are “wrong, terrible, sloppy”, etc, say, either in your mind, or aloud to that person, “Thank you”. This thought immediately puts you in a space where you’re available to hear and to use the information in a way that can serve you.

After the criticism, ask yourself, “Do I hurt?” If the answer is “yes”, then know somewhere within you, you believe the criticism also. Knowing this gives you the opportunity to heal that portion which you find unacceptable within yourself.

If you want to cease to be vulnerable to criticism, then heal the criticisms. That is the ultimate power in letting go of every concept. Being vulnerable means you can no longer be manipulated for there is no place for criticism to stick. This is freedom.

 

byronbodyandsoul.com

 

John Smallman – Your quiet periods are essential for your health and happiness

 

This article is taken from: http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/content/john-smallman-your-quiet-periods-are-essential-your-health-and-happiness

 

We are all one – humanity, other citizens of the Universe, and all in the spiritual realms – as you well know.  However, on Earth it is very difficult for the majority of you, the vast majority of you, to acquire a true understanding of what that actually means.  You experience life as individuals with individual needs – shelter, clothing, food, rest, an income – and to imagine yourself as one with all sentient life, let alone your immediate neighbors, is enigmatical to say the least.  And yet it does make sense because you can see that what one does often affects another; and you feel compassion for the suffering of another, which you would not if you were not all connected, all one.

As all are one, to awaken is a collective event — an event for which you have been preparing for a long time, and now that moment is drawing closer.  You have heard that before, many times, and it is becoming a little like a bad joke as you wait expectantly and see no sign of it.  Frustration and disappointment have upset many of you, undermining your faith at times.  But those periods pass, and your faith strengthens again as you maintain your intent and allow us to offer you succor and guidance in your daily interludes of quietness and prayer.

Those time periods are essential to your well-being, and during them you have an enormously powerful effect on the divine energy field enveloping the planet because you interact with it by opening your hearts to receive the abundance of Love that is the energy field in which you have your eternal existence.

Often, maybe most of the time, you do not feel it or sense it; but it envelops you always, and it shows itself when you make choices that bring you peace and relieve your stress or anxiety.  You are never alone, unsupported, although in the physical dimension the opposite is definitely experienced.  But when you accept that experience and surrender to it, its intensity decreases, because by surrendering you allow the divine energy field to strengthen and fortify you, and you experience that as a reduction in fear, anxiety, or stress, similar to the release that you feel in those daily interludes of quietness.

It is impossible to overstress the importance of taking time out regularly every day, to be alone, quiet, and relaxed, as you allow the divine energy field to meld ever more fully with your own.  The more integrated these energy fields become the more easily you can relax into the Love that embraces you, letting it suffuse you and then flow through you to interact with all in your vicinity, everyone on the planet, and the planet herself, thus reiterating your oneness with all of creation.

You are divine beings because God created you as such, and that is a changeless, eternal state.  You have just forgotten how to access it, and to awaken is to access it once more.  Whereupon you will recognize it and recognize yourself as the divine being that you are.  It is a wondrous state, quite beyond description or imagination while you believe in and support the illusion that you experience as so real and solid.  Your daily periods of quiet solitude will bring you ever closer to that natural state as the stresses and anxieties of daily life fall away.

Initially your mind will be busy with thoughts rushing in to fill the space that you are attempting to make there in which to be quiet and peaceful, because it is used to busyness and feels uncomfortable when stilled.  Do not judge yourselves as wrong or failing when this happens, because you have made the intent to still your mind and with practice you will succeed.  Just persist, accepting whatever occurs – maybe streams of thoughts that you will want to judge as unwholesome, inappropriate, or evil! – because your ego-mind will do its utmost to engage your attention using the strangest and most unsettling of shock tactics in order to regain your attention.

However, these periods of quiet, undisturbed peace will become for you the most important parts of your day, because with practice they will deepen and intensify, and your mind will be less frequently disturbed by trains of thought that carry you away into distracting inner turmoil as you automatically and without awareness engage with them.  When awareness returns, as it will, do not berate yourselves. Instead, be pleased that your awareness has returned, and honor it for doing so. To berate or judge yourselves as wrong or inadequate is just to follow another distracting thought train, until your awareness returns once more.

Ask for help and guidance during those periods you set aside daily for quietness of mind — and you will receive it.  Oftentimes, any anxieties or worries that were unsettling you will dissolve during these quiet periods.  The problems or issues causing them may not be resolved, but you will feel more at peace and better able to cope with them.  Your quiet periods are essential for your health and happiness, so indulge yourselves by allowing yourselves to take time for them.

With so very much love, Saul.

Three Phases of My Awakening by Stephen Hopson

 

This article is taken from: http://www.adversityuniversityblog.com/three-phases-of-my-awakening/

 

It’s been over 50 years since I came screaming into the world and let me tell you, it’s been one hellva journey!  And I’m still not done.  I sense that I have much more work to do.

Meanwhile, I’ve noticed that on the way to wherever God has planned for me, I’ve had to go through at least 3 different stages to arrive at a point where I realize I am NOT really in CONTROL.

And neither are you.

Were you taken aback for a moment?  That’s good!  Continue on and see for yourself how I’ve arrived at that conclusion.  The following are three phases I’ve personally experienced in my life.  Perhaps you’ll recognize yourself in one of them or somewhere in between.

 

Phase One – “I’m a victim”

I know this might be hard to believe but there was a time when I cried out to God, “Why me?”

I felt that he was punishing me by bringing me into this world as a deaf boy.  Even though on the outside I appeared happy- lucky-go (is that how you say it?), inside I was really angry with God, my parents and the world.  I actually hated myself because who in their right mind would want to be deaf?  Would you?

I went through periods when I hated the hearing aids and how they looked on me.  Kids teased me mercilessly.   Back in the day when I was in elementary school, I wore a monstrous hearing aid with two cords that ran up to both ears, not to mention I had yellow buck teeth!  Not exactly American Idol material.

There are a lot of people who stay in this victim mentality.  They think the world is out to get them whether it be the government, God, their parents, society, their boss, co-workers, you name it.  This is the stage where we don’t feel we’re making a difference so we find it easier to complain, gripe, protest, judge others and much more.  In other words,  we abdicate responsibility and sit on the sidelines while life passes us by.

 

Phase Two – “Hey, I’m in control of everything!”

The Day I Became an Instrument Rated Pilot

Somewhere along the line I had a life-changing epiphany (had a few of them actually).  Among the first is when my fifth grade teacher uttered three words that forever changed my life.  I wrote a story about that in my first book “Obstacle Illusions.”

Along the way I picked up “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale and not long after that Tony Robbin’s book, “Awaken the Giant Within.”   These and many other motivational books plus the fifth grade teacher incident helped me wake up to my own power.  I took to heart what countless self-help authors were advocating and earnestly put them into practice like affirmations, visualizations, writing goals and creating vision boards, to name a few.

This gave me the idea that I had the power to visualize what I wanted, take action and actually achieve them.  Pretty soon I started to experience miracles.  Things were happening and I was really pumped!

As a teen, I used to visualize myself as a pilot in my mother’s car, driving down the middle of the highway, pretending to take off and land.  When I turned 40, I accidentally stumbled upon a website by deaf pilots and immediately began to learn how to fly.  Right around that time, I set a goal to become the world’s first deaf instrument pilot and then 6 years later defied naysayers by doing exactly that in  2006.  While on Wall Street, I won three major sales trips because I wrote down my goals and visualized myself having fun at the beach in Bermuda (one of three destinations I had won trips to).

Finally, I thought, I’m in control!  YES!  All I have to do is have a desire, write it down and visualize it!

Based on the things I’ve done with my life, you’d think I have found the secret to success, right?

NOT!

 

Phase Three – “I’m Waking Up!”

My spiritual journey began in 2005 when I hit rock bottom from partying too much while living in New York City.  I was still a stockbroker at the time.  That’s when I began to devour anything relating to spirituality and began the journey to re-discover the divinity within me.

After over ten years of professional speaking, I decided to go back to school in 2009 and get a Masters degree in Vedic Science at Maharishi University of Management.    I studied consciousness, learned how to meditate (Transcendential Mediation) and went deeper within myself.

The deeper I go, the more I understand that setting intentions, putting up a vision board and writing down goals, while not a harmful thing, is actually limiting because God’s plans for me is so much better what I’ve envisioned for myself.   God knows what I’m here to do.  And He knows how I can get there!

Despite all my “newfound power” from the second phase, I’ve discovered I still don’t have control over everything.  It’s an ego trip to think that my ego knows what I’m here to do or even what’s best for me.  It wants to try to figure things out but how can it when it can’t see much of what’s going on beyond the normal senses?

Not only does the ego not know what’s best for me but it also tries to control other people’s behaviors.  Have you ever wished you could change people so that you could be happier around them?  Did it work?  Did you do it through a show of force like manipulating the situation or plying them with threats (“If you don’t stop snoring, I’ll leave you!”).   I’ve done that.

Did you know anyone who appeared to be healthy but suddenly died of a heart attack or got hit by a truck?  I did.  What a shock it was.  I knew a healthy, well built man from France who looked like he was on top of the world only to die of a heart attack at the young age of 23.  I was like, “What just happened?”

You were at the airport and they suddenly announced your flight was delayed due to severe thunderstorms.  How did you respond to that?  I’ve seen people scream at the poor airline representative probably thinking that they had control over the flights or even the weather.

Can you think of a time when you received a feeling in your gut about a situation that turned out to be correct?   When asked about how you knew, you probably responded with “I don’t know, I just knew.”  Where did that come from?  Did you dismiss it as a fluke or did you know that a higher power was at work here?

One time I was in a bookstore not looking for anything in particular but a flaming red book somehow fell off the shelf and landed on my feet.  It was called “The Purpose of Your Life” by Carol Adrienne which was exactly what I needed at the time.  Coincidence?  Or did my guardian angel do that?

Another time I was speeding down 8th Avenue on my bike (NYC) and suddenly pulled on the brakes even though the light ahead of me was clearly green.  Seconds later, a car pulled out from the intersection and ran a red light.  I shudder to think what would have happened had I ignored that urge.

On the upper East side (again in NYC) I was about to step off the curb to cross the street when suddenly I felt something pull me back.  A moment later, a speeding cab whisked by within a hair’s length.  I remember thinking, “OMG!”

One day a cab actually hit me and the force of the impact sent me tumbling over the hood and onto the windshield.   I slid back down and hit the pavement with a heavy thunk.  I was more embarrassed than hurt and reassured the cab driver I was okay.  I suffered no bruises, cuts or anything and hurried away to wherever I was going.  Was that divine intervention?  Or sheer luck?

I could regale you with many more “near misses” but you get the picture.  Makes you kind of wonder who’s in control, right?

Are you one of those people who has had an opportunity of a lifetime (that was just perfect for you) fall into your lap when you thought you were heading on a different path?   I’ve heard countless stories of executives who had their eyes on climbing the corporate ladder only to be mysteriously pulled elsewhere.  How in the world does that happen?   Who did that?

Since 1995, I’ve been practicing the art of surrendering to a higher power (be it the universe, God, nature, etc).  When I let go and trust, I receive divine inspiration that leads me to the right people, places or circumstances.  When I am that mode of operation,  everything falls into place easily and effortlessly –every single time.

For example, at the end of the school year in 2010, I had a strong urge from within to finally give birth to “Obstacle Illusions.”   For over 10 years I had worked on the manuscript and despite attempts to get the book published, it never happened.   The powerful urge from within grew so strong that it reached a crescendo.  It became impossible to ignore it.  When I made the firm decision to follow through, all of a sudden I was led to the right people to design the book cover and give the manuscript a final polish.  Not only that, but the money was right there to pay for their top-notch services!

Here’s the funny thing – why didn’t this happen sooner?   No matter how hard I tried, nothing worked.   I even had an agent in 2000 who once represented Mother Teresa.  He had helped me with my book proposal and then went shopping among the nation’s top publishers but every single one of them turned us down.  Why?

Because apparently the forces of nature had other plans.  Whatever your destiny is, it will unfold at exactly the right time according to the Divine.

None of us know what is going to happen so why try and control it?  The best I can tell you is to rediscover who you are by going within and communicate with your inner Self, which is where God is.  You do that by listening to your feelings, intuition.  Take up meditation.  Spend more time in nature.  Learn to listen with your heart.  The more you go within and take your attention away from the noisy world, stop worrying and really listen, the more you’ll hear God speaking to you.

Even while in Phase Two, I can remember pockets of times when I somehow knew enough to take inspired action to that voice inside me.  It happened during the interview I had with Merrill Lynch when I felt God prompting me to forever change the course of my destiny when I bravely said during a very pregnant moment and said, “Sir, if you never hire me, you’ll never know what I can do for this company.”   As soon as I uttered those words, it was as if something clicked into place and my entire future magically shifted in the right direction.

A few years after that interview, all of a sudden the clouds finally parted ways and all this money rained down on me.  For years I struggled financially, never making more than $35,000 a year in a city where closet-sized apartments were renting for more than half my income!  Looking back, I can honestly tell you I have absolutely NO IDEA how that happened!   After all, I wasn’t taking any special abundance courses nor did I push very hard.  Yes, I did have excellent work ethic and was also very focused.  But I didn’t try to force anything.   Thus the mystery.

What about the time when the bully in elementary school approached me in the playground?  After the fifth grade teacher uttered those famous three words the week before, I somehow had the courage to stop the bully in his tracks because I was unknowingly in the moment and took inspired action.  It was a moment that helped strengthen my inner resolve and stand up on my own two feet.   If my ego had its way, do you think I would have chosen to confront the school bully that day?

As I continue with my spiritual evolution, I’m recognizing divine inspiration when it comes and then taking “inspired action.”  What that means is I don’t really need to figure anything out because the right ideas will come naturally.  The best thing I can do is live in the present moment, become totally aware of my intuition and continue to raise my consciousness.   From there I trust and go with the flow like the river.

If an opportunity comes my way and it genuinely feels “right,” then I know I need to take action on it.  On the other hand, if I feel a clutching in my stomach, it’s usually a sign that whatever it is, it isn’t the right thing and I pass on it.  I haven’t yet perfected this technique but I’m getting better at it.

The third phase is where you learn to to release negative emotions, attachments and the tendency to control what happens outside you.  The heart begins to take on a larger role while the ego becomes less important.  In the process of becoming more centered, you become less judgmental and accept things as they are without the need to attach a meaning to them.  And connecting nature becomes…..well, second nature!  I often go for nature walks – barefooted and always come away refreshed.

There’s nothing like remembering who you are as a spiritual being living the life of a human being!

So there you have it.  What do you think?

 

Stephen Hopson

Profoundly deaf since birth, Stephen is a transformational speaker specializing in personal development for spiritual beings having a human experience. He has proven again and again that obstacles are illusions. Against conventional wisdom, he became the world’s first deaf instrument pilot in 2006. During the early 90′s, he was an award-winning stockbroker in the rough and tumble world of Wall Street.

To see a speaking demo tape and other information, please click “About” or“Hire Stephen.”

Daily Oracle – December 18th, 2012

 

Devotion

Nature Spirits

 

Inspiration – Contemplation – Nature – Faith

 

The presence of God is everywhere, so if you feel disconnected from the Divine, you’re the one who left.

Your Nature Spirits are beckoning you back to a place of awareness that reconnects you to your source.

Do not allow your mind to isolate you in fear or get stuck dwelling on misery.

Instead, go outside and take in the natural world — which is a beautiful gift for you to enjoy.

See the Divine all around you.

Focus on the beauty, power, and holiness that nature affirms.

Humbly surrender to this greatest of forces present in all things, including you.

Your Nture Spirits’ message: “Breathe in the Divine. You are in God, and God is in you.”

 

Universal Wisdom Oracle Cards – Dec 18th, 2011

 

Golden Memories

 

 

This card has appeared in your reading to help ease your fears and concerns about your future and the future of our planet.

All that is occuring in your life and in the world around you is happening for a positive reason; there is a higher purpose to all the events in life.

Visualize peace and love in your meditations and prayers; one must have faith, even though at times you can make no sense of what is happening.

Trust in the healing power of love, for it is only through love that peace will ever be possible.

The ‘doom and gloom’ that exists in our world at present is part of humanity’s cleansing.

As all the hatred and fear in the world surfaces, it is released and transformed.

We are continously presented with opportunities to heal.

You are safe and forever held within love’s embrace; part of one Eternal Spirit, which can never be destroyed.

All is eternally held in the loving hands of God — Goddess — All That Is.

The current storm will clear and reveal the light that exists within each heart.

You can be of great assistance to those around you at this time by showing faith and remaining positive about the future of our planet.

 

Trust — for all exactly as it should be.

 

Ascended Masters Oracle Cards – Oct 28th, 2011

 

Trust

Vishnu

 

 

You can trust the situation you’re inquiring about.

The solid foundation of your situation gives it a trustworthy basis.

Keep purifying your motivations so that they’re completely about love and service to elevate the energy and experiences even further.

 

 

The person you’re inquiring about is trustworthy

Trust that your prayers are being answered, even if you don’t yet have evidence

You’re on the right path

Trust your gut feelings and intuitions

 

 

Vishnu is the Hindu god who works alongside the gods Brahma and Shiva to preserve the world.

He brings about harmony when powers become unbalanced, and provides protection and mercy to all.

A benevolent and loving deity, Vishnu can help you feel safe about your current and future life.

 

Ascended Masters Oracle Cards – Oct 17th, 2011

 

Father, Husband, Brother, Son

Osiris

 

 

This situation involves a significant man in your life.

Your new relationships with men are affected by your old relationships with you father, ex-husband, boyfriend, brother, son, or other males.

This is a perfect time for you to heal and release any old wounds connected to men in your life.

God and the ascended masters will support you as you focus on letting go of old toxins such as anger, blame, or guilt.

This clearing process open the way for healthy relationships with men (and with your own male energy).

 

 

You have just met or are about to meet a significant male partner

Your present relationships improve as you heal your feelings about your father

A male decease loved one is sending “I love you’s” from Heaven

Balance your male and female energy by practicing both giving and receiving daily

 

 

Osiris is the beloved brother and husband of the Egyptian goddess Isis.

Their brother Seth got into a violent argument with Osiris that resulted in his death.

Isis appealed to the sun god, Ra, for help.

Ra revealed his secret name to Isis, who spoke the word to revive Osiris.

In their joyful reunion, the couple conceived their son, Horus.

Call upon Osiris for any situation involving men or masculine energy.

 

Ascended Masters Oracle Cards – Oct 1st, 2011

 

Apollo

Focus upon Your Strength

 

 

This card reminds you to focus upon your strengths and not upon any perceived weaknesses.

Your strengths could include your loving heart, pure intentions, people skills, hobbies, or something that you excel in.

Even if your talents still need polishing, these are strengths and assets.

The more you bless and appreciate your strengths, the stronger they’ll grow.

If you focus upon so-called weaknesses, they will grow.

This card comes to you as a reminder of the importanceof viewing yourself with compassion and love.

Anytime you find yourself thinking or feeling poorly about yourself, focus upon your strength instead.

 

Use daily positive affirmations to lift your energy and faith

Speak of yourself in positive terms

Begin an exercise program to build and tone your muscles

This is a message of love or healing about a brother or a brother figure

 

 

Apollo is the Greek sun god who’s the son of Zeus and twin brother of the goddess Artemis.

Apollo is a powerful deity who can bring out the sunshine in your life, literally and figuratively.

Renowned for his physical strength, Apollo can also act as a personal trainer to motivate your exercise program.

He can also help you gain emotional and intellectual strength.

 

Prepared for Battle, But with a Few Doubts by Paulo Coelho

 

This article is taken from Paulo Coelho’s book, Like the Flowing River.

 

I’m wearing a strange green outfit, full of zips, and made from a very tough fabric.  I have gloves on, too, in order to avoid cuts and scratches.  I’m carrying a kind of spear, almost as tall as I am.  The metal end has three prongs on one side, and a sharp point on the other.

And before me lies the object of my attack: the garden.

With the spear in my hand, I start to remove the weeds growing amongst the grass.  I do this for quite a while, knowing that each plant I dig up will die within two days.

Suddenly, I ask myself: am I doing the right thing?

What we call a ‘weed’ is, in fact, an attempt at survival by a particular species that took Nature millions of years to create and develop.  The flower was fertilized at the expense of innumerable insects; it was transformed into seed; the wind scattered it over the fields round about; and so — because it was not planted in just one place, but in many — its chances of surviving until next spring are that much greater.  If it was concentrated in just one place, it would be vulnerable to being eaten, to flood, fire and drought.

But all that effort to survive is brought up short by the point of a spear, which mercilessly plucks the plant from the soil.

Why am I doing this?

Someone created this garden.  I don’t know who, because when I bought the house, the garden was already here, in harmony with the surrounding mountains and trees.  But its creator must have thought long and hard planted and planned (for example, there is an avenue of trees that conceals the hut where we keep the firewood) and tended it through countless winters and springs.  When I moved into the old mill — where I spend a few months of each year — the lawn was immaculate.  Now it is up to me to continue that work, although the philosophical question remains: should I respect the work of the creator, of the gardener, or should I accept the survival instinct with which nature endowed this plant, which I now call a ‘weed’?

I continue digging up unwanted plants and placing them on a pile that will soon be burned.  Perhaps I am giving too much thought to things that have less to do with thought and more to do with action.  But, then, every gesture made by a human being is sacred and full of consequences, and that makes me think even more about what I am doing.

On the one hand, these plants have the right to broadcast themselves everywhere.  On the other hand, if I don’t destroy them now, they will end up choking the grass.  In the New Testament, Jesus talks about separating the wheat from the tares.

But — with or without the support of the Bible — I am faced by a concrete problem always faced by humanity: how far should we interfere with nature?  Is such interference always negative, or can it occasionally be positive?

I set aside my weapon — also known as a weeder.  Each blow means the end of a life, the death of a flower that would have bloomed in the spring — such is the arrogance of the human being constantly trying to shape the landscape around him.  I need to give the matter more thought, because I am, at this moment, wielding the power of life and death.  The grass seems to be saying: ‘If you don’t protect me, that weed will destroy me.’  The weed also speaks to me: ‘I travelled so far to reach your garden.  Why do you want to kill me?’

In the end, the Hindu text, Bhagavad-Gita comes to my aid.  I remember the answer that Krishna gives to the warrior Arjuna, when the latter loses heart before a decisive battle, throws down his arms, and says that it is not right to take part in a battle that will culminate in the death of his brother.  Krishna says, more or less: ‘Do you really think you can kill anyone?  Your hand is My hand, and it was already written that everything you are doing would be done.  No one kills and no one dies.’

Encouraged by this recollection, I pick up my spear again, attack the weeds I did not invite to grow in my garden, and am left with this morning’s one lesson: when something undesirable grows in my soul, I ask God to give me the same courage mercilessly to pluck it out.

 

Daily Quotations – June 16th, 2011

 

Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.  

André Gide

 

 

Love & Light,

Oracle and Tarot Goddess