animals, love, and harmony

A short video clip of  Cesar Millan and Eckhart Tolle talking about the positive energy that dogs (I would extend that to all animals) bring to our lives, showed up in my inbox this morning, and I wanted to share it with you. Sending you all thoughts of harmony, happiness, and fun today! Mary

Bringing our visions into the world of form

Esther

I was standing in the check-out line of a grocery store the other day and the woman in front of me began telling another woman about the difficulties that she was having with her adult son. In a very short period of time, I heard this woman’s story (regarding her son). The “story of her son” was one that I could feel had been repeated  by her hundreds, if not thousands, of times: he’d always been difficult, always struggled with anger and depression, she was at the end of her rope with him, she was worried sick about him.

This unhappy story was a huge part of her life. At one point, the woman listening to her said, “He hasn’t always been in so much trouble. Remember when….” but the woman cut her off saying, “And now, his doctor wants to take him off all of his medications……” Her friend had tried to crack through that dense, dark, sad, story but this woman’s ego was having none of it, so she escalated her story. She was, “Arguing for her limitations”, and she was doing it for both herself and for her son….and it is so easy to see when someone else is doing it…not so easy when it comes to our stories.

When we lock into our minds dramatic, highly charged, scenarios about ourselves or anyone else, they stay locked in, in our experience, and it doesn’t matter if they are scenes that we hate or love. We become mesmerized by these images, believe them to be true, and they come to life.

A few years ago, I sat with my mother and my son Matt, and I asked them both where they saw themselves in a couple of years. Matt saw himself in LA (he was not living there at the time) working in films, doing what he felt passionate about, and also becoming more recognized for his work. When he shared his vision, I didn’t start a conversation about how it could happen. I didn’t give him any advice or “helpful ideas”. This was not a discussion, it was a vision.

At one level, this is a fun game to play, but it is also a powerful way to gather two minds for a common vision. From that day forward, when I thought about Matt, I held a snapshot of what he told me, in my mind. If I started to become worried (because he didn’t have a place to live, or that his total wreck of a car, cracked windshield and all, would break down, etc.) I’d get quiet, close my eyes, and pull that “success image” to mind. I’d see him happy and loving his work. He also held his vision, and he worked for it. Every opportunity presented (even the smallest) that felt like a step in the right direction, he said yes to. A couple of years later, when Matt and the film crew from that season of The Deadliest Catch, accepted their Emmy, no one in our family was surprised.

But it wasn’t the outer manifestation alone that we had seen. It was the feeling of the vision (which is ultimately the important thing). When I see myself and others as peaceful, loving, and happily fulfilling our purpose for being (awakening and thus helping others to do the same) I have become a conscious creator.

Our minds are continually creating our worlds, whether we are conscious of this or not. Release your limited, unhappy, visions. Set them free, let them go. Open your arms and your heart to a new vision.

“If you look within rather than only without, you discover that you have an inner and an outer purpose, and since you are a microcosmic reflection of the macrocosm, it follows that the universe too has an inner and outer purpose inseparable from yours. The outer purpose of the universe is to create form and experience the interaction of forms–the play, the dream, the drama, or whatever you choose to call it.

Its inner purpose is to awaken to its formless essence. Then comes the reconciliation of outer and inner purpose: to bring that essence, consciousness, into the world of form and thereby transform the world. The ultimate purpose of that transformation goes far beyond anything the human mind can imagine or comprehend. And yet, on this planet at this time, that transformation is the task allotted us.”    pp 281, A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, Eckhart Tolle

 

My reason for being… in the web of Life

This fairly large spider has taken up residence in the corner of our kitty litter room. Jack pointed it out to me the other day so I wouldn’t disturb its web….I love that man.

A couple of days ago, I decided to go for a run much later in the day than I usually go. It was really hot out, so after a mile, I turned around to head back, and noticed a small turtle that was just beginning to cross the road. I picked it up, gently carried it to the other side (in the direction that it was headed) and put it down in the grass.

As I ran back home, it occurred to me that just possibly, this was the reason that I had “chosen” to run so late in the day, and maybe carrying that little turtle to safety was my “reason for being” that day.

Nothing is random and nothing is unimportant. Every thought, every action, is a sacred, interconnected thing,… whether I choose to see life this way or not. But I do choose to see life this way, because when I do, it feels good and right, and when I forget this, and think that unhappy circumstances and events are happening “to me”, I don’t feel good; I feel small, disconnected, and alone, and I think that I am unimportant to the whole.

What is my reason for being today? I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll never know. But I know this reason exists, for me, for you, for every being, seen and unseen. We are all a part of the magnificent pattern of Life.

“Behind the sometimes seemingly random or even chaotic succession of events in our lives, as well as in the world, lies concealed the unfolding of a higher order and purpose. This is beautifully expressed in the Zen saying, ‘The snow falls, each flake in its appropriate place.” Eckhart Tolle pp 194, from A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose

Susan’s turtle (I couldn’t insert it below her comment, but here it is)

A new question

Smiling sky

One thing that I keep needing to re-learn, is never to ask myself a question when the answer will not be helpful. Have you ever noticed that the only time you ask yourself the question, “What is wrong with me?” is when you are not feeling good? And what then do we think the answer will be? Something new, uplifting, and helpful? Never.

Questions like, “What is wrong, what is missing, why do I feel so ……?”, are ripe opportunities for the egoic mind to jump in and say, “I”ll tell you what is wrong with you! And then it goes crazy with all sorts of worn-out, old, frightening reasons why you are in the wretched state that you are, and why this is your (or someone else’s) fault. And we believe it. It feels like the truth.

When I catch myself doing this, I try to ask a better question, like, “What is right about this (or me?). What is right in my life right now?” and then I don’t try to figure it out, I let an answer come. Sometimes just asking the question is enough to lift my spirits and help me start feeling better. It is such a simple and heart-felt prayer: “Show me what is right, show me what is good about my life, right now.” Questions like these have the power to break old patterns of reactive thought since they are invoking the deeper self: the Spirit of Love itself.

Ask yourself a new question today….one that doesn’t cause you to cringe and brace yourself for the answer, but that makes you smile in happy anticipation; one you would enjoy hearing the answer to.

“The voice in the head has a life of its own. Most people are at the mercy of that voice: they are possessed by thought and by the mind. And since the mind is conditioned by the past, you are then forced to reenact the past again and again. The Eastern term for this is karma.” Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth (pg 129)

*As a friend and I were walking to our morning watercolor class this past Saturday, I looked up in the sky and saw a plane flying in what appeared to be an arc, and then it began to close and make a circle. We stood there speechless, as it completed the circle and then came back around to make a smile (you can see the outline on the right).

Gentle reminders; let’s try again

The little shrine in Jack’s shop

I stopped by Jack’s store the other day but he wasn’t there. The door was open and music was playing …he always plays the same cd: Jennifer Berezan’s “Praises for the World”. The first thing that I noticed was the music seemed too loud, then I saw a watercolor painting with dirty glass. As I walked toward the back of his shop, I noticed something else; my need to scrutinize, judge, evaluate, and try to “improve” my (or Jack’s) environment.

When I noticed this thought, I stopped and took a breath. It almost brought me to tears. …surrounded by all of this beauty, I looked for the dust. Looking into the face of someone I adore, I notice the pimple. Looking at my own smile, I notice the teeth that are not white anymore.

As I became present, standing in the middle of Jack’s shop, I saw a little shrine against one of the walls. As I walked closer, I realized that although it probably once housed a religious statue, Jack had arranged little glass chickens and a rooster (accented by a model T Ford plaque) inside. My thought was,

“If I didn’t know who owned this shop, I would like to get to know him.”

Then I realized that I didn’t know him. Not really. When I think I know what he will say next, or how he should arrange his store (or his life), how can I know him? I know my version of him; the version that, to my mind, always needs tweaking.

When I am finding fault with Jack, or myself, or anyone, it’s because I’ve focused on something that (in that moment) is unacceptable to me, and the result is always the same; I am unhappy, and I think that I need to change it. Now! …I also know enough to recognize when I’ve fallen (yet again) into this state and what I can do about it.

First, I notice. Second, I try to be very gentle with myself and say, (almost like I would speak to a little child who fell down, or to a newly rescued animal that was still very afraid of getting hit), “It’s OK (to whatever just happened!). Let’s try again.”

“The greater part of human pain is unnecessary. It is self-created as long as the unobserved mind runs your life. The pain that you create now is always some form of nonacceptance, some form of unconscious resistance to what is. …Surrender to what is. Say ‘yes’ to life, and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you”. pages, 33-35,  Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

sanity

Fred napping (in one of my favorite spots) on this rainy morning

“Pets fulfill an incredible function that hasn’t been fully acknowledged and recognized in this world. They keep humanity sane.” Eckhart Tolle (recorded during a retreat at the Findhorn Foundation)

I was listening to an Echart Tolle CD the other day, and when I heard him say these words, I knew that I wanted to share them with you. 

I invite you to share any stories about how animals have positively effected your life.

The valley of the Universe: The field of Love

Eleanor looking for her toy

I had a dream the other night that I was supposed to marry a prince, but I had to pass a test first. I sat in the backseat of a car, trying to explain to someone that the prince didn’t know me, but that didn’t stop the driver. As we moved forward, I realized that the “test” was to say what I had learned (in life?) and I said, “What I’ve learned is that I don’t have control over anything.” and I woke up….and I knew that this was true.

All of the amazing openings, connections, opportunities, gifts, incredible people, ideas,…every “miraculous thing” that has ever been a part of my life (has come to me) was presented like a gift, for me to say yes to, or not. When I did say yes, the action that I took (if action was needed) always felt right.

There is so much advice floating around today about how we need to be “out there” pushing our ideas, peddling our wares, making a name for ourselves, becoming well-known, marketing ourselves and our “products”. The feeling behind this kind of approach to life is; if you don’t do it, it won’t get done. If you don’t push your own agenda, no one else is going to do it. And yet, I don’t find this to be the Truth. Pushy people (in my experience) push people away, just like people who calmly and deeply believe in themselves, in what they are doing, in Life Itself, draw more of that Life to them as they emanate the same.

I’m attracted to people, products, events and ideas that radiate love, kindness, warmth and expansion. I can feel this because I am a part of that larger field of energy….we are all a part of the Field of Love, of God-Consciousness, and when we remember this, we align with it and let it move us, breath us, live through us…and life begins to feel miraculous to us.

“If you are content with being nobody in particular, content not to stand out, you align yourself with the power of the universe. What looks like weakness to the ego is in fact the only true strength. …Instead of trying to be a mountain, teaches the ancient Tao Te Ching, ‘Be the valley of the universe.’ In this way, you are restored to wholeness and ‘all things come to you.” A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, by Eckhart Tolle