Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freedom. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

How to Live Forever



"You must go through the way in which you are not.

And what you do not know is the only thing you know

And what you own is what you do not own

And where you are is where you are not."

~ T.S. Eliot, excerpt from Four Quartets


When I began deleting my personal history, as Paulo Coehlo describes in The Zahir, it was the most joyous and bizarre experience of my life: I was simultaneously aware of who I was and who I was not, and 3D appeared both silly and sublime. It was expansive, akin to the seatbelt sign blinking off in flight as the Captain announces, "You're now free to move about the cabin."

Similarly: In college I listened to Woody Allen's amusing audiobook Without Feathers. The title refers to the Emily Dickinson poem, "'Hope' Is the Thing With Feathers".

The idea of "giving up hope" is as intriguing as stepping outside our conditioned responses. The day before the U.S. World Trade Center attacks in 2001, I'd finished reading Beyond Prophecies and Predictions: Everyone's Guide to the Coming Changes by Moira Timms, and felt suffused with a calm knowing, a sense that something was about to happen. As 9-1-1 unfolded I sent out a global message contrary to popular reaction, and was castigated as well as thanked. (Email me if you'd like a copy of This IS A Test.)

In this first year beyond prophecy, how do we live beyond hope, beyond history, beyond how we might once have responded, and simply observe our unfolding? Will Linville conveys the evolving human condition with startling beauty, demonstrating what it looks like to live as "a constant stream of consciousness".

We begin by enlarging the lens from microscope to kaleidoscope, as Caroline Casey illustrates: "We are remembering our true selves, our destiny, our role in the Dynamic Mystery Play. You know how sometimes people ask that harumphitudinous question, 'Who do you think you are?' We reframe: 'Hoo-Doo! You think! You Are!'"

This is how we morph into "forever beings" says thought leader Soleira Green. "Forever beings are not trapped by history, by past mistakes, learning, cultural influences, etc. Freedom isn't a concept since there is nothing but complete and utter freedom on every level, available all the time.… A forever being lives within limitless possibility, seeking change and creation constantly and always. This re-orients us to the ever streaming NEW and not to the static past."

Without "hope," without history, we're closer to our true nature than ever before. Or as Linville offers, "If you lose control, you're free. And you have everything."

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Untying the "Nots"

"We learn the rope of life
By untying its knots."


~ Jean Toomer, novelist and poet


"Surrender, Dorothy!"

This is one of the more memorable lines from the movie classic, The Wizard of Oz, writ large across the sky by the Wicked Witch of the West.

Surrender is also one of the more misunderstood stages of the spiritual journey. It doesn't mean to give up or give in, but to open to something beyond; to acknowledge, honor, and allow the energy that moves through us free reign. It's about letting go of what you know, how it "ought" to be, what you think you should do now. Instead of relinquishing your freedom, I envision surrender as more of a "Yield Right of Way" sign. The one you're yielding to is your own higher Self. READ THE REST!

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

10 Principles of Spiritual Optimism

I've just finished reading Why Is God Laughing? by Deepak Chopra, who's certainly one of the more prolific as well as diversely talented authors on the planet today. This book is written as a parable, with The Path to Joy and Spiritual Optimism as a sequel/summary. Here's the essence:

1. The healthiest response to life is laughter. (Antidotes fear and sorrow)
2. There is always a reason to be grateful. (Antidotes victimization)
3. You belong to the scheme of the Universe. There's nothing to be afraid of. You are safe. (Antidotes insecurity)
4. Your soul cherishes every aspect of your life. (Antidotes feeling undervalued)
5. There is a plan. And your soul knows what it is. (Antidotes meaninglessness)
6. Ecstasy is the energy of Spirit. When life flows, ecstasy is natural. (Antidotes inertia)
7. There is a creative solution to every problem. Every responsibility holds the promise of abundance. (Antidotes failure)
8. Obstacles are opportunities in disguise. (Antidotes inflexibility)
9. Evolution leads the way through desire. (Antidotes hypocrisy)
10. Freedom is letting go. (Antidotes attachment)

Why Is God Laughing? dovetails beautifully with my July newsletter: Recess and Reassess, which I wrote prior to reading it. See how synchronicity keeps us always in flow?

Blessings and laughter to you ~ as Mike Myers says in the Foreword: "Comedy is a candle."