 My Self
The Self (‘l Am”) is the deep awareness within us. It is the source of our being, the source of our l-am-ness. Most of us have tunnel vision, we are narrow minded and one-eyed. We are not aware from where our consciousness arises. We think we are worthless, we think we are only our body. We belittle ourselves and see others as we see ourselves. It is the spirit within, the Self, that is giving us the light of consciousness, but it is being dimmed by our contracted vision. What we are looking for to make our life meaningful is the very thing that is the source of our looking. To find real peace we need to follow the light of our being to its source. It is a twofold journey. It is an inward journey as we open our mind to the spirit within. It is an outward journey as we give the Self permission to expand within us and enter into our daily life. It is the nature of the brain/mind to look outwards into the world. This is necessary for our physical level of survival. But for our spiritual survival we also need to reverse the process, to overcome the contractions of the mind. We need to create some very real space so that nature may also manifest itself. The most priceless gift that we have is none other than our own consciousness
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Sometimes they are called ‘old movies’. They are memories of past experiences, real or imaginary that we are attached to. They are all in the past and by ‘playing’ them we keep ourselves locked into them. They pull us down, often drain our energy, manufacture guilt or failure and generally reduce our joyfulness, playfulness and happiness. These old stories flit through our mind, distracting us by demanding attention.
It is a very difficult thing to just let some things go immediately. So when we try to release these, and let them go, and surrender everything that has happened in the immediate past or in the distant past, we find we will not be able to do it immediately. Things that we think we had surrendered will come back. There are memories that are quite sneaky. They come back and dig their claws in. They may only be little things, but things which are just holding on causing stress. One useful tool is our breathing. If we consciously breathe we are doing it in the present moment. The only real time is the present moment. If we can focus on our breathing pattern then we begin to gain control over past experiences. By adding our mantra (correct sound ‘So ‘Hum’) to the breath it is an added tool. These old stories serve us no purpose. The past experience may have given us wisdom or a bit of a shake up, so there may be a growth benefit, but we have now moved on. The memory is no longer of any value. There is no blame and there is no sense of failure with this. So just slowly brush them away, breathe them away. Use the breathing pattern to focus on the present moment by saying to yourself, I am “Now” and “Here”. Aim for moments of stillness and in that moment gain strength and power. It may be a slow process. The important step is simply that we are becoming mindful of them and recognising them for what they are. Little by little we will reduce our anxiety and begin to be more aware and able to remove those things that pull us down. And of course many of these stressful times have manifested themselves physically so we need to be willing to allow time for this self healing to take place.  The purpose of this whole creation is experience. The purpose of human life is to experience. We experience the separation from Great Spirit with a gift of free choice, and we experience the variations in physical life, starting very dependent as a baby and slowly shaping our identity in our human circumstances. We experience the various stages of adult life in relationships and in culture.
Without fully realising it, the great experience is the one we have with our Self. This experience shapes all the others. Not all experiences will be what we might desire. Many but not all our experiences come from opportunities and choices. Many will be jolts to wake us up and encourage us to move on. We should only consider our own life. It is far too complex to unravel the lives others are leading, as we have no idea of their ‘story’, their original choice, their opportunities and their day to day choices. Usually opportunities are found in any experience, choices such as,’ do I want to change direction?’ It is hard to say this but all experiences have value. At our level it is the wisdom or understanding we may have gained, and not the memory that is important. Traumatic experiences may not be easily resolved. Such experiences may have arisen because of a choice we made, a risk we took or even did not see because of a previous choice. The choices we have are totally free. That is a great gift, but alas we are often not prepared. There may be an opportunity to ‘get back on track again’ and move on. If we can take it, it could be of great benefit but it can take a lot of time and courage. At a deeper level all human experiences are part of the evolution of human kind. For this great adventure the love energy of Great Mystery has created its opposite for us. Our choices, thoughts, opportunities and experiences all take place between love and fear. These opposites are perfectly balanced and we create our path of life between them. These are the polarities of our earthly life. In our story we come to these polarities because, without contrast there is no experience.
For example, when there is light there must be dark otherwise there is no experience of either. Love needs fear and visa versa. We cannot experience love until we experience fear (you could say the absence of love) . It is unfortunately necessary to have some degree of fear so that we learn how to emerge from it into that love that we desire. The more we can move towards love, the more we will be in the present moment, and that is the experience which is something we do not always understand because it is fleeting but it is joyous. You cannot hold onto it because it is in the present moment, then you’re on to the next moment and something else is happening. The effects or the glow may flow on a bit longer,without getting bogged down in, ‘Oh I’m thinking this’ or ”I’m thinking that’. It is happening automatically. We can begin to move from our mind to our heart by beginning to think more positive loving thoughts. (Mindfulness tool helps here) The more we can feel and experience, the clearer will be our desire and the more we can create in the way that we want it to be. The power to achieve this is in our feelings, the ‘heart centre’. When we are being joyful and guiding our thoughts with love we are more able to create what we wish. This is not easy because we still live between those polarities. Fear will arise We may guide ourself into our heart centre and think only love but there will be times when it will become fear again because we have these little uncertainties, these little feelings of inadequacy. Our power is in joy We need to be aware that our real power is in our joy. The moment we feel afraid or vulnerable we can use this power by changing our attitude. Replace the fear with joyfulness. Abundance and Manifestation are quite a challenge. We all want abundance and we all want to be able to manifest it. When we look around we see an extraordinarily abundant universe. The problem is the way we look at it. Many of us have been brought up to feel there is not enough to go around. That feeling then creates an attitude and that attitude creates a reality. But does it? Many people have experienced or are experiencing scarcity, or live in poverty.
There are two difficulties we face. The first is our own feeling of scarcity. The other is the general feeling of the community around us. If the general feeling is there is not enough, then that creates the overall reality. So we may have to work within that. Remember everything begins with a thought. The starting point is to focus on what we can do. We can change how we see the world with a change of attitude. However, abundance does not necessarily mean money, as money is only an exchange of energy. Abundance can mean enough of everything that we need to fulfil our purpose. It can of course also mean wealth in the comfort sense. If we are thinking of abundance, it is also important to focus, not only on material things, but also on the spiritual things that we can have. We can have an abundance of love, abundance of happiness, abundance of joy and peace ,an abundance of enlightenment. All of these things are part of our spiritual growth which is a whole growth person. The difficulty is the way we approach our desire for abundance. Our approach creates the outcome. So what can we do with what we have? Can we turn it around and make the most of it? For example if we have time on our hands, we may be able to use that time constructively and focus on our personal and spiritual development. It may be hard because we may well feel very disempowered. It may be possible to create a network with people who are seeking a way forward. If we are moving it is easier to change direction. So in creating this universal abundance Great Mystery wants us to have it always. Abundance is being part of Great Mystery. So that is what we need to remember. The power of thought is very, very strong, so rather than dwelling on scarcity we can think only abundant, helpful thoughts. There is no right or wrong. We simply need to allow our thoughts to form and create new stories. There is more than enough of everything. Thought is pure energy. We have a myriad of thoughts, most of which we’re not aware of. Those thoughts are being broadcast constantly to create the reality in which we find ourselves. It would be simple if that were all. But of course there are lots of other people with thoughts as well. Many thoughts are not very positive and they create the reality in which we find ourselves, but within that scenario we can deal with our own thoughts, and we can, if we like, make the most of where we are for the best possible outcome for ourselves.
A helpful image is to see that a thought needs to be changed so it can be used by our body, for example, to move our hand. To change a thought or a response to a thought we need to observe them, and if we are very strong we can stop negative thoughts going any further so they don’t get converted and come back as stress, worry or anxiety. Or if there is a thought that we like, such as gratitude, thankfulness, then we can do one or two things. One is simply to stay in that thought and allow it to magnify the self within us, and/or we can allow it to slip back into our physical body and feel a great sense of upliftment or wellness or achievement. When it comes to the ‘power of our thought’, it is to be able to identify that which comes into our mind quickly enough to either stop it, or to allow it through and immerse ourselves in it. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
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