Posts Tagged ‘consciousness’

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‘If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves’. ~C.G. Jung, Integration of the Personality, 1939

As spiritual beings experiencing a human lifetime, we strive to understand the human condition as the soul explores boundaries, challenges and pleasures of being in the human form and living on the earth plane. As conscious creators, we strive in each moment, thought, action and deed to express our passions, loves and desires. There are as I say on the Explore Your Spirit show, ‘many paths, one destination’ and we have the free will to choose how we live in each lifetime, with the exception of a little destiny and karma thrown into the mix along the way.

For many people, an important part of this expression is the choice to have children. Perhaps there is no quicker way to learn who you are and test the boundaries of your patience, competence, wisdom, compassion and unconditional love, than through raising a child. The act of parenthood is a sacred undertaking and when done with love and care, the parent and child enter into a relationship which endures the test of time, providing tremendous benefit to them both along the way. I have often said that my son has been my greatest teacher, for out of the mouth of babes comes the wisdom of the ages. The goal I have always believed, is not to raise the child in a manner of how we think they should be, but rather in the manner of allowing them the safety and encouragement to explore and discover over time, who they are at the soul level. This in turn, allows them to express fully who they are meant to be in this lifetime, providing encouragement as a parent, rather than directives.

In her book, Soul to Soul Parenting, author Annie Burnside provides a guide to raising a family in a spiritually conscious fashion. A mother of three, Annie encourages parents to become ‘…active participants in their children’s awakening as conscious global citizens’. The book advises parents that a multitude of positive messages can be communicated to children helping them discover and reinforce life-afirming attributes within themselves.

In this forthcoming age of Aquarius, humanity is evolving at a rapid pace and the new souls coming through each day require new techniques and guidance in creating their future. In Soul to Soul Parenting, Burnside shares 22 methods for integrating spirituality into daily family life, encompassing a range of techniques including music, spirit mobiles, connecting with nature and specific tools and applications available to parents.

I recommend the book for parents with children of all ages including teens, as it’s packed full of wonderful ideas to bring families closer together to explore their highest potential.

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Welcome to ‘The Quick Five’, where I chat with fascinating authors, artists, teachers and researchers and ask them five questions about their work. My guest today is Stanton Friedman. Stanton received BSc and MSc degrees in physics from the University of Chicago in 1955 and 1956. He was employed for 14 years as a nuclear physicist for such companies as GE, GM, Westinghouse, TRW Systems, Aerojet General Nucleonics, and McDonnell Douglas on such advanced, classified, eventually cancelled, projects as nuclear aircraft, fission and fusion rockets, and nuclear powerplants for space.

Since 1967 he has lectured on the topic “Flying Saucers ARE Real!” at more than 600 colleges and over 100 professional groups in 50 states, 9 provinces, and 16 other countries. He has published more than 80 UFO papers and appeared on hundreds of radio and TV programs. He is the original civilian investigator of the Roswell Incident and co-authored “Crash at Corona: The Definitive Study of the Roswell Incident.” TOP SECRET/MAJIC, his explosive book about the Majestic 12 group established in 1947 to deal with crashed saucers, was published in 1996 and went through 6 printings. He has provided written testimony to Congressional Hearings, appeared twice at the UN, and been a pioneer in many aspects of Ufology including Roswell, Majestic 12, the Betty Hill-Marjorie Fish star map work; analysis of the Delphos, Kansas, physical trace case; crashed saucers, flying saucer technology and challenges to the S.E.T.I. (Silly Effort to Investigate) cultists.

Stanton Friedman takes a clear-cut unambiguous stand that some UFO’s are alien spacecraft, that the subject of flying saucers represents a Cosmic Watergate, that none of the anti-UFO arguments made by a variety of noisy negativists stand up to careful scrutiny, and that we are dealing with the biggest story of the past millennium: visits to Planet Earth by alien spacecraft and the successful coverup by governments of the best data: alien wreckage and bodies recovered in New Mexico, for 63 years. He has spent many weeks at a total of 20 document archives. Stan has successfully taken on many critics of flying saucers, Roswell, Majestic 12, including winning a debate at Oxford University.

Stanton has previously been a guest on The Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show, where I discussed his work and his book, Flying Saucers and Science. The topic of our interview today on the Quick Five is Stanton’s new book, Science Was Wrong: Startling Truths About Cures, Theories, and Inventions They Declared Impossible‘, which was co-authored with Kathleen Marden.

Kala: Stanton, wonderful to speak with you again and welcome to the ‘Quick Five’. Your new book is entitled – Science Was Wrong: Startling Truths About Cures, Theories, and Inventions They Declared Impossible’. What was the most astounding bit of information that you discovered that scientists had wrong and which field of science did you find has the most errors?

Stanton: That is like trying to say which of your children you prefer. The most distressing, frankly, was the terrible Eugenics Movement with its Hitlerian approach to selecting the finest people and keeping others from reproducing. My own grandparents wouldn’t have been allowed in since they could not have passed tests in English when they arrived. Kathleen did an outstanding job on that chapter. There were loads of errors in the space and aviation areas…. False claims made by smart people who knew nothing about the topics at hand

Kala: Several of the chapters in the book deal with medical issues, such as the Hemophilia Holocaust. Can you describe to our readers the relevance and importance of this holocaust? Also what types of medical cures did you find in your research that were proved wrong at a later date?

Stanton: Ten thousand American Hemophiliacs were made HIV positive as a result of the medical community’s advice to keeping using the Factor VIII transfusions because there was only one chance in a million that the virus could be transmitted via transfusion. The factor was made by batch processing of blood using thousands of units. If one was contaminated, all the product would be. Furthermore, it was already know that heat treatment of blood products could eliminate viruses such as Hepatitis C. But that was too expensive! The voices of reason were ignored until it was too late.

Kala: You and the late Carl Sagan were class mates in the physics department at the University of Chicago for three years. You mention in Science Was Wrong and elsewhere that he was wrong about UFO’s, abductions, and government cover-ups. Did you two argue in physics class about these theories or did the differences evolve at a later date?

Stanton: We were classmates 1953-1956 and never discussed such matters. I didn’t read a book about UFOs until 1958 and didn’t find Blue Book Special Report 14 until about 1961. I visited him a couple of times in Ithaca , much later, when speaking at Cornell University . We obviously disagreed,though cordially. I also wrote him a strong critique of his Sunday Supplement article about abductions.

Kala: Do you believe that the changes in the energy output of the sun are the real cause of climate change as opposed to the production of CO2?

Stanton: I am certainly convinced, along with a number of scientists, that the sun is the primary driver of the earth’s climate. There have been times when the CO2 level was much higher than now without catastrophic global warming. CO2 isn’t even the most abundant greenhouse gas.. water vapor is. The notion that man is responsible for the climate doesn’t hold up. New satellites are providing more and more data pointing the finger at the sun. We can’t do much about that.

Kala: Stephen Hawking is one of the best known scientists on the planet. What are your thoughts about his comments in April about aliens?

Stanton: Frankly, as I have said in one of my monthly columns, his comments were pretty silly. None of the astrophysicists have deigned to examine the overwhelming evidence that aliens have already been visiting. The notion that Earthlings can be compared to the Native Americans discovered by Columbus is absurd. We have many weapons of mass destruction and the means for delivering them. We will be going to the stars using our newly found (1938) notions that nuclear fusion is what powers the stars and our ability to harness fusion with our first H-bomb in 1952. It released the energy of 10 million tons of TNT. We are obviously a primitive society whose major activity is tribal warfare as demonstrated by our killing of fifty million earthlings during WW 2. Nobody out there would want us to leave here. The notion that if aliens were coming, they would have communicated with us using technology like ours is beyond silly. Columbus didn’t send smoke signals to the natives.

Kala: I’m breaking my own rule here and going for a sixth question, but I have to ask. Science used to be a field that was open to free flowing thoughts, open minded ideas and hypothesis’s that were explored no matter how radical the idea was at the beginning. It now seems to have done a complete reversal, becoming dogmatic and scientists are quick to ridicule each other and shun scientists who are pioneers of new fields of study. You cite some examples in your book such as Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky. Why has science changed, with the focus more on debunking, destruction and isolation, rather than creating and supporting new research? How it is it affecting the various fields of study and the scientists themselves?

Stanton: Now it is really a question, not of the search for truth, but of the search for status, tenure and research grants and fear of being held up for ridicule. I have spoken at over 600 colleges and found that fewer than 2% have read any of the large scale scientific studies I discuss. In addition 10% of the attendees have seen a UFO but 905 did not report what they saw mostly for fear of ridicule. Most professors lack courage to swim against the tide.

Kala: Stanton, thanks for taking the time to join me here for the Quick Five.

Stanton: You are very welcome. My privilege. My books and a number of articles are listed at my web site www.stantonfriedman.com

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Many contemporary spiritual teachers offer methods for awakening that may actually impede rather than encourage the process. Some of these entail dissolving the ego or subduing the emotional/pain body, while others focus on transcending thought, and even form and language. These methods give the erroneous impression that only by overcoming certain exigencies can a person be on a path to awakening.

What does it mean to awaken? Eckhart Tolle, in his book A New Earth, defines awakening as a shift in consciousness during which thinking and awareness separate. This concise definition of awakening implies that thinking limits our awareness. While this may be true, it is unclear why a definition and resulting methodology of awakening would rest on such a separation, just as for others it hinges on dissolving, subduing, doing away with, or moving beyond everyday realities. As spiritual teachers, we should be asking ourselves if our models of awakening originate in separation consciousness, which compels us to “cut out,” “stop,” or “fix” things in order to achieve our desired outcome. Separation consciousness, by definition, limits the scope of awakening by partitioning off great segments of reality.

What does it really mean to awaken? It seems that awakening is an extensively aware state of mind that takes in everything. There is no “path to awakening” nor end to be gained — only awareness without likes or dislikes, which gives way to more awareness. As a thought or feeling unfolds, it reveals hidden layers of reality, causing the unseen to become seen.

Just as awakening does not require us to separate thought from awareness or transcend the ego or emotional/pain body, it also does not ask us to subscribe to the limits of form. From this vantage point, there are no such limits; within every form is the immeasurable, waiting for our awareness to unfold into it. This is why an awakened chef can taste the soil in a piece of chocolate and identify the region of the world where it originated. It is also most likely how transcendent abilities awaken within us—non-local awareness, spontaneous healing, prophecy, and clairvoyance.

As spiritual teachers, our task is to invite seekers into awakening through models that support it, void of any sort of imposition. Surely we can guide the minds of seekers to give full attention to an experience without relying on exclusion or division. Great painters, for instance, can so reduce a reality to its color content that it assumes a new existence beyond color, unassociated with any previous memory of it. We, too, can show the scales of an infinitely expansive reality.

Ultimately spiritual teachers can invite seekers directly into the unfolding of awareness by bringing our own awareness to the task. In doing so, we demonstrate that expanded awareness, the state of mind that takes in everything, is an integral phenomenon, not one that is divided. We also realize that a mind engaged in this process could never look for a method, because it is constantly opening, continually awakening.

More about Christina Donnell…
Christina Donnell, Ph.D., is a spiritual teacher and author of the five time award winning book Transcendent Dreaming: Stepping Into Our Human Potential. She conducts workshop intensives and training in receptive wisdom. For more information, www.wocaassoc.com.

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As we draw close to wrapping up the 12 Gifts of Enlightenment, with gift number eleven presented here, take a moment to reflect on the concept that the best gifts are the ones we give and receive with great thought and care. With the holiday season winding down, you may find yourself a little worn out from the season of celebration. In January, the long cold dark nights of winter are a reminder that we should take time to hibernate, recuperate, and create reserves of our vital energy, so that when spring arrives, we are bursting with energy.

One of the simplest, rewarding and budget friendly gifts that you can give to yourself this year, is to adopt the practice of meditation. For many, the concept of meditation is a daunting one. For those who have never tried to meditate, the idea of sitting in a very uncomfortable position in complete silence for hours is enough to discourage even the slightest attempt. True, there are those who enter into meditative practices that become an entire lifestyle, however, just like the preponderance of flowers in an English garden, there truly are hundreds of ways to meditate and connect with your inner self.

Crucial in any meditation practice, is the breath. Regardless of whether you wish to spend ten minutes in meditation or ten hours, slow deep methodical breathing will relax the body, bring in oxygen to the lungs and blood stream and help to retain focus and awareness.

This brings us to Gift Number Eleven – Give the Gift of Meditation. If you or an aspiring metaphysician in your life are looking to adopt a meditation practice, open your mind and disregard any preconceived notions of how you think a meditation practice should operate. Take this time to create a practice that feels right for you. One of the easiest ways to do this, is to adopt a simple ten minute meditation. Make a resolution for the new year, that for ten minutes every day, you will create a window of opportunity to meditate. Perhaps you’ll wake early before the rest of your household to have those ten minutes, or set aside some time during your lunch hour in your car or before you go to sleep in the evening. Given the demands of your day and the fast paced lifestyle that you may be leading, you may find that when you take those ten minutes, that it proves to be too difficult to simply relax and think of nothing. Do not feel concerned about this, this is your practice and you can create a meditation practice which is right for you at this time.

For many people, guided meditations are a wonderful way to meditate. You can have the meditation on CD or on your iPod and play in your home, car, or with headphones anywhere you are. Simply choose the meditation that appeals to you and play and enter the journey that the guided meditation provides with a guide and soft music.

If your day is full and you don’t have time for a guided meditation, create a sacred space for yourself that you can return to often. This is done by picturing a peaceful scene which you find relaxing. Perhaps it’s the beach or a mountain top or garden. Build the scene in your mind, adding beautiful details. If you find the concept of a garden to be calming, create a bench where you will sit in the garden. See the trees, the cascade of flowers blooming in a multitude of color and hear the birds chirping, along with the soft rustle of the breeze blowing through the leaves in the trees. Relax on the bench, stretch out your legs and with your eyes closed, tilt your head back and feel the warmth of the sun on your face. Take a deep breath and sigh out loud. Breathe in slow and deep and exhale fully, releasing the air from deep within. Notice the colors of the leaves and the bark on the trees. Take your shoes off and sink your feet deep into the soft grass, flexing your toes. As you breathe in again deeply, become aware of the flowers as their scent fills the garden.

Continue building this garden in great detail until you can see it fully in your mind and know it well. Then claim this scene as your sacred space. Know that you can return there anytime, all you need to do is to sit quietly, breathe deeply and imagine this scene in your mind. In this space, you can relax and spend a few minutes there every day. This act of active meditation can become a profound spiritual practice that can make a significant impact on your day and create a sense of relaxation and well-being.

Tune in tomorrow as we explore Enlightenment Gift Number Twelve. If you’ve missed Gift’s One, Two, Three, Four, Five Six,  Seven, Eight, Nine or Ten. Click on the links here to visit the articles and click on the subscribe button on the top section of this page, where you’ll be notified via email each time a new article by yours truly appears.

As Bob Marley once said, “Man is a universe within himself”.

Breathing deeply, unwinding and going within…
Kala

More about Kala Ambrose:
Kala is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s  book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala lectures on Esoteric Teachings,  Developing Business Intuition, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom (also known as the Divine Feminine). Kala’s Guided Meditations CD’s include Spirit of Hawaii and Egyptian Mystery Temple and Tibetan Mountain Journey.  More info: www.ExploreYourSpirit.com

Enjoyed this article? Kala welcomes your comments and reads them all. For more articles by Kala Ambrose, visit her main page at National Metaphysical Spirituality Examiner.

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The 12 Days – 12 Gifts of Enlightenment series is based upon the “spirit of the season”, not pertaining to any particular faith. Consider it a nod to ancient cultures who celebrated the Winter Solstice with festivals, rituals and parties, heralding the return of the light -  the Sun. Ancient Rome celebrated the solstice holiday as Saturnalia, and Celtic Druids created bonfires in a three day ritual as the Oak King battled with the Holly King and won back the light. History of these celebrations are found with the honoring of Mithra, in Egyptian practices of Osiris and in various societies around the world. The seasonal observance for many at this time extends to January 6th in conjunction with the story of the Three Wise Men, the Magi who brought gifts upon their arrival. The 12 gifts of enlightenment are shared throughout the celebrations of the return of the light and need not necessarily culminate on a particular day. Perhaps it alludes to a time to create new rituals including for the New Year, with heartfelt intentions to bring abundance, joy, good health and inner wisdom.

The Twelve Days – Twelve Gifts of Enlightenment are a reminder that on the journey to esoteric wisdom, knowledge is the first key. As was written above a mystery school temple in ancient Greece, “Man, Know Thyself”, it has always been of tremendous value to spend time in self-observation and introspection. One of the ways to begin this journey, is to look at the past, review the history of humanity and discern the truth to see how history changes and is rewritten according to cultural and political mores. Begin with your own investigation of the origins and history of the holidays including Christmas, New Years and Easter to discover how they have evolved to the modern day concepts.

You may find during your research, that many of the holidays now celebrated began as a completely different celebration. My intent gentle reader, is not to discourage you from celebrating each holiday, but rather to encourage you to delve deeper into the history and find the path which is right for you to follow. As Anais Nin said, “The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery”.

On this path, I’d like to recommend two books that I have enjoyed reading this year, which share a particular perspective of western history. This brings us to:

Gift Number 9 – Give the Gift of Knowledge and Discernment.

The first book is: How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe by Thomas Cahill. The title is a bit ambitious, as most any student of history will note that the Greeks and the Eastern Byzantine Empire continued to exist and document historic record before and after the fall of Rome, as well as many eastern cultures. Perhaps a more accurate title would be: How the Irish Evolved By Combining Roman Catholic Beliefs with their Traditional Pagan Beliefs, creating Many Holidays and Cultural Beliefs Which We Celebrate Today. Having said that, one can plainly see which title is more attention grabbing. Cahill describes the decline and fall of Rome and how the Irish, due to their love of preservation, transcribed this written history during the Dark Ages, when recorded history throughout many parts of western Europe was on the verge of being destroyed by Barbarian cultures. The second portion of the book explains how Irish myth, lore and culture then placed its own unique stamp on civilization, blending a mix of Christianity beginning with St. Patrick, into traditional Irish pagan rites and customs. Cahill shares some of the life and history of St. Patrick, a roman boy who came from a family lineage of tax collectors, who was enslaved and taken to Ireland. Not mentioned in regard to the stories of St. Patrick are the reports of Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland, which chronicle how the Druid culture was driven from Ireland by Christian monks beginning with Patrick.

The beauty and passion of the Irish people is vividly described as Cahill shares his love of poetry and brings ancient Ireland to life, which also serves to stimulate popular interest in the history of western civilization. My hope is that the reader would begin here with this read, recognize it as only one piece to the puzzle and then venture further into study of the Greeks, Romans, Armenians, Coptics, Arabic, and many other cultures, all of whom carried forth the history from these dark times.

Book recommendation number two is, How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe’s Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It, by Arthur Herman. Particularly interesting is that the UK title for this book is The Scottish Enlightenment, which is a better representation of the information found in this book. This also leads to the question, Must we as Americans require alleged super hero titles for every book in order for it to sell? Both books in review here, extend their titles to the extreme, but this is certainly not a new concept. One only has to look at American history to see how much of it has been fabricated to “sell the sizzle”. A quick example being the focus on the midnight ride of Paul Revere, when in reality, Israel Bissell rode farther and faster, but didn’t have what it took to turn him into a superstar to rally the crowds.

In How the Scots Invented the Modern World, Herman lists an impressive collection of Scots and their accomplishments including Andrew Carnegie, Robert Louis Stevenson, Alexander Graham Bell, Sir Walter Scott and John Muir. One of the best features of this book, is that it endeavors to explain Scottish history and development, without over-fanciful ethnic pride clouding the vision. An interesting read to add to a long list of selections for history buffs, mark this one as the tale of the 18th century as the age of enlightenment for Scotland.

Tune in tomorrow as we explore Enlightenment Gift Number Ten. If you’ve missed Gift’s One, Two, Three, Four, Five Six,  Seven, or Eight, click on the links here to visit the articles and click on the subscribe button on the top section of this page, where you’ll be notified via email each time a new article by yours truly appears.

Sitting amongst random piles of books, pondering the mysteries…
*~Kala~*

More about Kala Ambrose:
Kala is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s  book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala lectures on Esoteric Teachings,  Developing Business Intuition, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom (also known as the Divine Feminine). Kala’s Guided Meditations CD’s include Spirit of Hawaii and Egyptian Mystery Temple and Tibetan Mountain Journey.  More info: www.ExploreYourSpirit.com

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What is Peace? Do we know when we have peace, are at peace, or are we only aware of its presence when it’s gone? Do we squander time when we could be at peace, choosing instead to indulge in misery and complaints, until something horrible happens to make us realize that our lives were pretty peaceful? Why do we fail to realize and appreciate what we have in front of us, unable to see that it could be lost or taken away?

Many cultures try to teach that peace is a state of mind, It’s taught in the Catholic mass when each person turns in a full circle around them, greets each person, holds their hand, looks them in the eye and says, “Peace – Be – With – You”. Buddhist monks teach meditation, expressing the concept that to meditate is to be unaffected and calm while chaos occurs around you, to remain in peace while others panic.

In reviewing the concept of Peace in its most simplistic definition, it is described as the absence of war. Could this refer to the war within each of us, as we struggle against ourselves? Is it possible to know peace without first knowing war? Must we experience friction in order to know its release?

In the laws of physics, friction occurs when two objects come into contact with each other. The amount of friction can be measured in the terms of how much pressure is required before motion of some type occurs. We see this when two sticks are rubbed together until a spark is created, resulting in fire. When you take a step, you create friction to push your foot off the ground to take the next step. When waves break on the shore, friction is created. It is the same with people, a kiss is friction and when two ideas or ideologies clash, it creates friction.

While pondering these thoughts, I began to wonder…What if we need places and people to help us find peace by creating chaos around us? What if by grand decision, we inadvertently create friction as part of a master plan? Could the law of physics and friction be the entire catalyst for our journey on earth? After all, does not the friction of a grain of sand in the oyster create the pearl?

What if every action does have a reaction and we hold the key to peace? What if the answer lies in the fact that we haven’t understood at what price peace comes or that peace has a price at all? Perhaps we have a larger role to play in consciously creating the act of peace.

Is it possible that each of us creates friction and offers peace in one of three roles, which I have identified and named as – a Haven, a Harbor or a Hollow? Could it be that each person who enters our lives, whether for a brief moment or a lifetime relationship, are like ships tendering at our dock, coming into our lives when they need a particular experience?

As we continue to cry aloud en masse to give peace a chance, have we been looking outward for so long, that we’ve lost sight of all that we know and knew to be true? Could the answers we seek and the help we long for, actually be found within ourselves?

Do you know your destiny in this lifetime? If you do, can you identify your role as a Haven, a Harbor or a Hollow?

Haven
A Haven is a retreat, a sanctuary. Haven’s express an oasis of joy and serenity, a Haven is dreamy, unreal. Havens can be found in your mother’s arms as a child, your lover’s embrace or a moment spent under the moon and stars by a lazy river on a perfect evening.

Haven’s remind you of hope, of all the wonder and beauty in the world and why it is so good to be here. But Havens by nature, are fleeting. Haven’s don’t judge. They are just here to remind you of joy, of light and of laughter, of the power of love and what it means to be fully alive and present.

They are like a first kiss, a beautiful dream, or the moment you feel the stirring of love. A Haven can be remembered forever but only lived for a few moments. Havens are to remind you of Heaven (Haven) and that at times, life can be like heaven on earth. Havens are natural forces and must do what they do; they cannot be contained, as they move like angels on earth, spreading their light. Once the moment is experienced, they must drift away or you will become enraptured and stay caught in stasis, instead of moving forward like you need to do.

Friction is caused when it is time for the Haven and the person to part company, as the person fears loss and wants to control the Haven and attempt to assert ownership, which cannot be. A Haven cannot be owned or possessed. Once the open hand attempts to make a fist, the Haven slips away. A Haven is not a home and when the person attempts to settle in permanently, the Haven will create friction, shake them loose and set them free. The purpose of a Haven is to create a magical moment of bliss, to remind people that Heaven can exist on Earth.

Harbor
A Harbor is an organized portal of entry, where people are welcome to enter and to leave. A Harbor offers protection from storms and provides a place to seek safety, shelter and repairs. Harbors, while offering safety, do not equally accept all newcomers. A Harbor knows that not all who enter come in peace. A Harbor has a duty to protect all who enter and so it takes the time to build trust with newcomers in order to understand their intentions.

Harbors have long memories. They hold energy, retain possession of goods and space and can harbor a grudge when mistreated. Harbors can conceal and hide people, in order to protect them from other people or storms. A harbor is a landing place, but never the same, as new cargo and ships enter daily and new people move there to work on the docks and in the town. People who decide to stay there long term, adjust to deal with the constant change, understanding that there are people they may connect with and then never see again. A Harbor is a place to lay anchor for a while, usually temporarily, as room always needs to be made to allow new people and cargo to enter.

Harbors are often haunted with ghosts of regret, grief, unresolved situations and people who have not learned to let go of the past. Like many situations in life, a Harbor understands the circle of life including lack and abundance and that luck comes and goes. The purpose of a Harbor is to allow all who enter their portal, to unload their burdens and share their stories, their adventures and their treasures. They provide comfort, solace and space to interact with other travelers.

Hollow
A Hollow is similar in nature to a mother’s womb. It is a place to recover from an arduous journey in order to be reborn. Often located between mountains, it symbolizes that we have undergone an experience of monumental proportions and now we are able to rest and recuperate before we journey again to climb another mountain.

A Hollow is different from a Haven or a Harbor. It does not promise that all life is beautiful like a Haven nor is it active like a Harbor, a Hollow’s beauty lies in its simplicity and connection to nature. A Hollow allows you to be, just as you are, no comparisons, no action, just a time of reflection. There in the Hollow is a natural rhythm, the chirping of crickets and birds, the croaking of frogs, the splashing turtles and the sway of the trees in the breeze. A Hollow creates a large bowl in which you are invited to sink into and feel the connection of the circle of life. It reminds you that what will be will be, regardless of where you venture again or where you have come from.

A Hollow works like a vacuum. Things are drawn there to fill the space. During time in the Hollow, one retreats from the world. A Hollow, like a Haven, is not meant to be lived in for a lifetime. A Hollow offers an opportunity to reflect and gather strength in order to move on to the next part of the journey. Hollow’s can be enchanted with a magic that allows us to gaze into the water and see within and around us what has not been clear before. However, one must not dwell too long in the Hollow, for there is a the danger of staying inactive for too long, and becoming stuck in a bog or swamp, left to wallow in the murky water.

The Hollow is the in-between. It is there for us when we need it. The purpose of a Hollow is to allow us to recuperate and build up strength, so we can deal with our shadow selves and the mental and emotional thoughts slowing us down.

The Gifts of the Haven, Harbor, and Hollow

In the Haven, we remember who we are at the core level and the source from which we are all connected. We are given the gift of joy.

In the Harbor, we deal with action and the physical, making decisions and movements every day. We are given the gift of purpose.

In the Hollow, we go within to discern why we have done what we have done thus far in life and what that says about us. From there, we strengthen our resolve to go forth and do better on our next step and adventure. We are given the gift of strength.

Do you recognize yourself as a Haven, a Harbor or a Hollow? Perhaps you are all three or act as one or the other in different relationships? Can you identify the Haven, Harbor and Hollow in others and how the friction caused in each meeting, can help you on your road to inner peace?

May the friction you encounter on your journey create a spark, lighting your path to peace.

More about Kala Ambrose:
Kala is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s  book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala lectures on Esoteric Teachings,  Developing Business Intuition, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom (also known as the Divine Feminine). Kala’s Guided Meditations CD’s have just been released with Spirit of Hawaii and Egyptian Mystery Temple and Tibetan Mountain Journey.  More info: www.ExploreYourSpirit.com

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In 1962 in northeast Scotland, a dedicated group of people created a community named Findhorn. They lived by applying the principles of attraction, which they demonstrated by creating a flourishing garden on a land and climate that was harsh and labeled unsuitable for vegetation. The result, both a testimony to harmony with nature and conscious connection to all things, yielded fruit for the body, mind and spirit. David Spangler was one of the early residents of Findhorn, and during his time in the Findhorn community, he began writing down how those laws worked. In 1975, his writings were first published as The Laws of Manifestation. This book is now available again through Red Wheel/Weiser. Recently, I sat down with David to speak with him about his book and his time at Findhorn.

Kala: Hi David, thanks for joining me here on Explore Your Spirit with Kala’s Bohemian Blog. A couple of years back, I interviewed the folks at Findhorn on the Explore Your Spirit show. I’ve always been fascinated with Findhorn and what was accomplished there by a small group of conscious people. In 1970, you arrived at Findhorn and were the first American to be part of the community. Tell me about your time at Findhorn and what you experienced by being part of the community.

David: I was at Findhorn for three years during which time I served as a co-director along with Peter Caddy, one of the three original founders, and was instrumental in starting the community’s educational program. Those three years were magical. When I first arrived in 1970, there were only about fifteen people in the community, but people began arriving and staying, mostly at that time from the United States, until in 1972 there were about a hundred and fifty people living there as members. It was my first experience living in a community, and I enjoyed it tremendously. It was a chance to interact on a daily basis with like-minded people in a spirit of mutual support and encouragement. What was not to like about that?

Initially the focus at Findhorn was on the gardens and the work with the nature spirits and Devas, the angels of nature. But as the community grew so quickly, there was a need for some kind of internal educational process to bring the new members up to speed with what Findhorn was about, its spiritual vision and purpose. For years, Peter had done that himself in a one-on-one fashion, but this was no longer practical. That was when I began developing an educational process within the community. The two main teachings of the center were attunement to the Sacred, the “God Within” as Eileen Caddy called it, and cooperation with the spiritual intelligences within nature, the nature spirits and the Devas. A third became living in community in a mutually empowering way. Everything else evolved from those three principles, and part of my job was to make those principles clear.

In 1973, I felt I needed to return to the United States and resume my work here, which had been interrupted when I went to Scotland. But I have retained a deep fondness for the community and over the years have often gone back for visits. I continue to collaborate with them. For instance, next spring I’m collaborating with their educational department to offer a class, “Living Whole” which will feature a one-week experience in the community with Findhorn faculty and three months of online teaching with me. Information can be found on our website, www.Lorian.org.

Kala: It was said that Dorothy Maclean communicated with the intelligence of nature in her work at Findhorn. Some people describe this as interacting with fairies, gnomes and other beings. Was there interaction with other beings in the gardens of Findhorn?

David: The fairies, gnomes, and so forth belong to a large class of beings we called “nature spirits.” These are the beings that work energetically with specific plants and locations. Overlighting them are much vaster, more powerful Beings who are like the souls of entire species or who overlight vast landscapes and ecologies. These Beings Dorothy called the “Devas,” a Sanskrit word meaning “Shining Ones.” They would be equivalent to angels. Dorothy communicated with the Devas, receiving quite precise instructions that permitted her and Peter to grow the miraculous garden on which the fame of the community rested. An elderly Scottish gentleman named R. Ogilvie Crombie or Roc who lived in Edinburgh but who visited the community regularly was the main contact with the nature spirits. By the way, an excellent new book has just been released about him, his life and his work at Findhorn. In Britain, it’s called The Gentleman and the Faun but in North America it’s titled Meeting Fairies and is published by Allen and Unwin.

Kala: Your book, The Laws of Manifestation was written based on the laws you observed during your time at Findhorn. You state in the book - “This is what manifestation is: the working of natural laws of energy exchange and transference within a consciousness of the Whole and through an attunement to the Presence of Wholeness… It is a dynamic state of consciousness. On human levels, manifestation does not replace working for a living, it is simply a different way of expressing the livingness of the work and the work of living where work is truly seen as Love in Action”. I think this is one of the most important laws that is overlooked, that we also do have to work and take action and that thought alone will not accomplish what we wish to manifest. How best does one combine thought and action to manifest?

David: The two are really indispensable to each other. A process of manifestation can begin with either. I may need to do something, to take some action, in order to get energy moving in my life and clarify my thoughts so that I can think and imagine more precisely and clearly just what I wish to manifest. And going the other way, I may have clear images and thoughts of my manifestation but again I need to do something to open the channels for those images to connect with the larger world. Which way you approach a manifestation depends on the specific circumstances. Think of trying to play Chopin on the piano using only one hand. You can pluck out part of the melody but the richness and fullness of the music will be lost.
Thinking enables me to connect with energies of meaning: what does this manifestation mean in itself, what does it mean in my life, what does it mean in my relationships to others, and so on. Action alone won’t do that. On the other hand, action connects me to the world of matter and formation, the shaping of things, the response to opportunities, the engagement with form. Thinking alone won’t do that.

Kala: I teach esoteric teachings and have referred to what I teach as from an old age, rather than what people try to lump together and describe as new age. In reading your book, I found a similar focus, especially with your thoughts around manifestation and how it should be aligned with the Higher Will. In more recent times, manifestation has been described more as the law of attraction and a way to get what you want, many times without asking is this for your highest and best. What are your thoughts about manifesting and how it should be activated?

David: We think of manifestation generally in too restricted a way, likening it to the effect of a magnet upon iron filings. We see it as a way of bringing something into our lives. It helps to see it as an action of change: we are changing ourselves into something else and because of that we are changing the world around us as it configures to the “shape” of our life. Now this change might be great or it might be small. If I manifest a toaster, there’s probably not a great difference between me with a toaster and me without one, and the world is not going to be much affected. But if I manifest a new job or a spouse, say, that is going to change me, perhaps dramatically, and my world and relationships will change accordingly. So we need to think of manifestation not simply of attraction as if that’s all there is to it but as an act of life-shaping and to some degree of world-shaping. In my language, I say that manifestation is really an act of incarnation.

Kala: Your book is described as “transforming lives by working with the natural laws“. What do you define as a natural law?

David: A natural law to me is a description of a principle that operates in harmony and consistency with the structure and nature of reality. It is not a local phenomenon but something that operates across the spectrum of life and beingness. Thus gravity is a manifestation of the structural and atomic nature of the cosmos and doesn’t just work in Cleveland but not in Detroit; it works everywhere. For this reason, I don’t think of the “Law of Attraction” per se as a natural law, or even as a law at all. It’s a phenomenon that can occur based on principles of resonance, but not all the time; there are plenty of exceptions to its operation, for which we should be grateful. We wouldn’t want to attract everything we think about or feel, but if it were a true natural law, we would.

Kala: Since 1965, you’ve worked clairvoyantly with a group of non-physical beings, described as “from the inner worlds of spirit who are part of an inner school whose purpose was to explore and develop a spiritual teaching around the process of incarnation”. Tell us about the beings you work with.

David: My work with non-physical beings generally falls into two categories. One is with beings whom I find in my environment, such as nature spirits, or other beings who may come to me for one reason or another but in a one-off kind of way. The second is with the group you mentioned. They have often referred to themselves as a “school,” but they do not mean an educational institution. Rather they use the word in the way we might say a “school of thought,” that is, a group following a particular line of understanding, research or work. They, in turn, are part of a much larger group of beings made up of humans, angels, and devas whose overall interest is to promote the welfare and blessing of all humanity and all lives upon the earth. This particular “school” with whom I work is like a research think tank: they are running experiments, and sometimes I feel like I’m one of them! Basically, they are part of a movement to inspire a planetary spirituality, one that is neither Western nor Eastern in its basis, but one grounded in the essential nature of humanity, of the human person, and in sacredness. They are exploring just what such a planetary consciousness and spirituality might be like and how best to inspire its unfoldment “down here.” It’s not something that can be taught or revealed; it’s something that must emerge from our collaboration with them. That it, at this point in human evolution, a new spirituality must emerge from us, not from them–or more precisely, it must emerge from partnership between incarnate and dis-incarnate beings.

Within this larger objective–which a great many individuals and groups are pursuing–a particular “detachment” of this school, like a department perhaps, is working with me on the issue of redefining the nature of incarnation and what it means to be a person in order to more readily access the spiritual light that is innate in each of us. This light is not one coming from transpersonal sources but from within us as a result of the generative or creative nature of the incarnational process itself. In short, each of us is a source of what might be called “Self-Light,” a spiritual force that can be a real blessing to the world. How to understand and tap this Self-Light or “incarnational Light” and make it a practical tool in our lives is the specific objective of this department, that is, of the specific non-physical colleagues and partners with whom I work.

Kala: What is Incarnational Spirituality?

David: Incarnational Spirituality is the name I’ve given to the understanding and practice of using Self-Light in partnership with the the spiritual light from within the world and from transpersonal levels, and of course, with the Light of the Sacred that ultimate underlies all of it. Originally, I was calling it “person-centered spirituality” since it focused upon the spiritual value and presence of the personal level of consciousness and existence, not the transpersonal. But I came to realize this was too limited a term and that what I was really researching and studying in partnership with my inner colleagues was the spiritual power and consequences of the incarnational process itself. This research has formed the basis for all my classes and writings, particularly in the past eight years or so since I’ve been using the term “Incarnational Spirituality.”

I suppose one origin of this phrase was with an inner Being who appeared one day as I was writing an article about some of the challenges facing humanity at this time and said, “The problem with humanity is not that you’re too incarnated; it’s that you’re not incarnated enough.” I knew he didn’t mean we weren’t physical enough, but that we’re not connected enough, not whole enough. I wanted to know more, and this led me into researching the process of incarnation and what it means spiritually and otherwise to be an incarnate person. If any of your readers are interested in learning more, they can do so by going to my website www.lorian.org I teach online over the Internet for the most part, and there are a number of new classes soon to begin this winter and spring.

Kala: Going back to Findhorn, do you think new communities of this type will be created? Why hasn’t this concept caught on and expanded in other areas?

David: That’s a good question. I think there are new communities being formed all the time, though not necessarily in the Findhorn mode; I’m thinking here of the co-housing movement which has a lot of community elements. And there were a few communities founded inspired by Findhorn’s example. The Sirius Community in Massachusetts is one of these. But starting and running and living in an intentional community is truly hard work and not for the faint-hearted. It’s not easy making them economically self-sufficient (even Findhorn hasn’t achieved that after nearly fifty years of existence), and they require a lot of time, energy, commitment and sacrifice from everyone involved to be successful. Aside from entering a religious community, which is a different kettle of fish anyway, not that many people either can or are willing to leave their work and connections in the larger society where there are more opportunities than most small communities can offer. It’s probably the same dynamic that leads people to move from small towns to cities but not necessarily the reverse.

Kala: Who is David Spangler? If your friends and family were to describe you in five sentences, what would they say?

David: They would probably say I’m loving, funny, a happy father to great children, a most appreciative and grateful husband to a fantastic woman, someone who likes to play games, someone who needs more exercise, and a writer who uses long, complex sentences where short, simple ones would do! Oh, and I love chocolate!

Kala: It was a pleasure speaking with you David. Thank you for your time.

For more info:
More about David Spangler:
Since returning to the United States from Findhorn in the early seventies, David Spangler has continued to travel and lecture widely. He has developed and taught classes at a number of institutions, including the University of Wisconsin, Seattle University, and the California Institute of Integral Studies. He also teaches classes for the Lorian Association for Incarnational Spirituality at www.lorian.org

More about Kala Ambrose:
Kala is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s  book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala lectures on Esoteric Teachings,  Developing Business Intuition, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom (also known as the Divine Feminine). Kala’s Guided Meditations CD’s have just been released with Spirit of Hawaii and Egyptian Mystery Temple and Tibetan Mountain Journey.  More info: www.ExploreYourSpirit.com

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Author Dr. Wayne Dyer once said, “We must not die with our music still inside of us.”  What I believe he meant by this was that each one of us has very unique and special gifts deep inside — natural skills and talents that we were given.  We know that many talents can be acquired and developed with elaborate training, but many others already exist, just waiting to be discovered and honed.  Whether it’s a flair for the arts and creativity, personal skills such as communication and leadership, or a knack for precision and accuracy, there is something special and unique about each of us.  Have you ever noticed how some children have a natural ability to balance and dance, or others who can sing in tune?  Years ago, I watched with amazement how a friend’s 4-year-old could handle an adult-sized basketball and kick a soccer ball with precision.

To this day, many of us have not yet discovered what unique things we can accomplish just by trying.  These gifts are buried too deeply and covered over by our hectic schedules and an inability to reach inside ourselves.  I met a grown woman one day who told me about a desire she had always felt to work with or care for animals.  She put in long hours in an office and constantly day-dreamed about starting an adoption agency for small pets.  I told her that her “calling” will remain a fantasy until she responds to it, and I encouraged her to find ways of exploring possibilities.  I met a man several years ago who had a gift for teaching scripture in his church and yet he worked in sales.  He eventually answered the “calling” by quitting his job and going to school to become a pastor, something he wished he had done many years earlier.

Some of our inability to live our dream or to love what comes naturally to us stems from the discouragement we experienced as children.  Our parents meant well, but often their words and actions hurt our morale and self-image, and caused us to give up.  When I was in junior high school, I discovered a passion for reading the works of Edgar Allan Poe and emulating him in my stories and tales.  But it seemed that when I showed my work to my parents and teachers, they were quite critical and continued to point out all the things I was doing wrong in my writing.  Eventually I became so discouraged that I gave up the love of writing and felt I couldn’t live up to their expectations.  I know now they all meant well with their comments and criticism.  They wanted to help me be the best writer possible, or use a style that they felt would be most effective.  But it backfired and caused me to give up.  It wasn’t until about 10 years ago that I dusted off that internal “calling” to write and began creating work that led me to this column and other works.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”  My interpretation of this passage is that we must not train our children the way we think they should go, but instead the way the greater power that created them intended for them to go.  Be sure that you aren’t trying to live your dreams through your child.  I received the following e-mail from a parent; “I’ve seen my daughter draw beautifully but she doesn’t seem to care to do it much.  Artistic ability runs in our family.  How do I encourage our daughter to keep at it so she’ll go far?”  Perhaps the parents of this child were putting too much pressure on her to excel at art because they wanted her to be great.  The comment about the family’s artistic ability may indicate the motivation for the pressure.

I challenge you to see your child as a gift with hidden secrets and treasures within — that only she and the greater powers that created the magic of life itself know her ultimate capabilities.  You have the rewarding opportunity to help her unlock these gifts through your encouragement and coaching as a parent.

Here are three important things you can do to help her discover what she loves and what she could achieve.

Allow Your Children to Explore. Create opportunities for them in all forms of art, creativity, and play.  If you see that they have an affinity for something specific, it’s fine to encourage them but avoid pressure; otherwise, they may develop an aversion to the activity.  Always ask your children their preferences, and help them experience what is most meaningful to them.

Allow Them to Dream Boldly. Based on their dreams and desires, allow them to ask for things without criticism. It’s important to avoid squelching or discouraging your children’s requests based on their creative aspirations. Buy an empty notebook or a colorful essay book so they can log their dreams and desires. You don’t always have to fulfill their requests. Set an example by joining them and sharing some of your dreams with them.

Use More Encouragement and Less Praise. Praise is too judgmental and applies labels to a child.  Encouragement empowers youngsters to listen to their hearts and determine what they think about themselves or what they created.  Ask plenty of open-ended questions and allow them to describe to you their opinions and thoughts about something they did or created.

If you’ve noticed some wonderful artistic ability in your child, cherish it and nourish it.  It’s desirable to encourage them to excel in that area, but be ready to let go if they choose not to pursue the interest.  Don’t try to clone yourself in your child, and certainly don’t attempt to fulfill your thwarted desires through them.  Be your child’s coach and guide, and you’ll help them find their own unique place in this world.  Doing so will help them live a full and happy life, and to hear that song inside them waiting to be sung.

More about Bill Corbett…
Bill Corbett is the author of the book Love, Limits, & Lessons® and the founder and president of Cooperative Kids.  The book is designed as a quick reference guide for adults in handling challenging behavior and is now available in a Spanish translation edition.  Bill has a degree in psychology from University of Phoenix, sits on the resource advisory board of Attachment Parenting International, and is the former creator and host of the radio talk show Parent Talk in Nashville, TN.  He created the Love, Limits, & Lessons® parent education course on discipline that is taught by instructors nationwide, and writes a syndicated column offering behavior advice that can be found in many parent magazines in Tennessee, Texas, Pennsylvania, and New England.  Bill has three adult children, two grandchildren, and lives with his wife Elizabeth near Hartford, CT.  Visit his website www.CooperativeKids.com for further information and parenting advice.

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Most people mistakenly believe that outside factors cause stress. For example, deadlines at work, financial challenges, family issues, health problems, or relationship tangles. But these are normal obstacles that everyone faces as adults. And guess what? They aren’t the cause of your stress. The real reason you are getting stressed out is because you’ve bought into the myth that you’re not good enough and you’re not up to meeting those challenges.

Imagine how your everyday life would change if you suddenly became unafraid to fail. Imagine how powerful and serene you would feel if you didn’t care about others’ opinions or judgments. This is the definition of a stress-free life—and you can get to this point by discarding your limiting beliefs.

When you discard limiting beliefs—e.g., I’m not thin enough, pretty enough, smart enough, rich enough, successful enough—you open yourself up to unlimited personal and professional possibilities. That’s because the mother of all fears—namely, that you’re not good enough—has been preventing you from loving yourself, being true to yourself, and doing what you really want to do in your life.

Most of all, it’s making you feel as if you don’t measure up. It’s also leading you to align your everyday behaviors and choices with what you think others want and expect from you. That’s why you’re stressed out!

Start by aligning your decisions with you, not someone else. Here are five new ways to counteract stress, regain your courage to be who you really are, and take charge of your own life and career.

Stressbuster #1: Stop using money to keep score.

We use money to impress others, to fulfill a need for self-worth, and to “buy” happiness. The next thing we know, we’re in debt, we’re unhappy with what we have, or we develop an insatiable need for more “stuff.” Start seeing money for what it is—a way to buy necessities. Stop seeing it as a way to define your success.

Stressbuster #2: Stop letting the media define your beauty.

Many of us live in a perpetual state of distress over how we look—too fat, too old, too short, too bald, unfashionable, and so on—because we believe the beauty myths perpetuated by the media. Stop worrying about what others think about you. Start caring about and exhibiting your positive traits—such as honesty, helpfulness, and intelligence.

Stressbuster #3: Stop letting religion rob your self-worth.

If you belong to an organized religion, you’ve probably gotten the message that you’re unworthy, or that if you just do A, B, and C, maybe you’ll earn redemption. Stop feeling guilty for making decisions that you know in your heart are good for you, and stop asking permission to do so. You were created good enough. Start believing you are.

Stressbuster #4: Stop seeking accomplishment in busyness.

Many people measure their self-worth by how much they get done. Then they complain, “I don’t have enough me-time.” Get rid of all the “shoulds” that are making you feel stressed out (“I should clean my closet, I should visit my folks.”) Ask yourself why you don’t, and then deal with that, rather than feeling guilty. Stop feeling bad for taking time for you—time to contemplate, time to relax. You’re worth it.

Stressbuster #5: Stop seeking rewards outside yourself.

You may be someone for whom a promotion, raise, bigger office, or nicer car are signs of success. Chances are, you’re addicted to striving, and you’ll never quite reach the place that feels good enough. Stop the cycle. Look inside to identify qualities in yourself that are good enough—right now, just the way they are. Start defining yourself in terms of your generosity, empathy, or other worthy qualities.

More about Jan Denise…

Jan Denise is a syndicated newspaper columnist, an empowerment guru, and author of the new book, Innately Good: Dispelling the Myth that You’re Not (Health Communications, 2009). You can find out more about her and her teachings at www.innatelygood.com.

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What is the universe?  It seems like I’ve been asking this question for just about as long as I’ve been looking up at the night sky.  Standing under the jewel-like starry nights, profound questions such as these seem to naturally arise, and I think in part it was these kinds of questions that led me as a child to want to become a professional astronomer.  As I’ve taught astronomy to students of all ages over the past twenty years, I’ve found that I’m not alone in asking these kinds of questions.  Nearly everyone I’ve ever spoken to about the universe has thought along similar lines: “What is all this?  Where do I fit in the big picture?  Who am I?”  Even in the midst of our modern lives and busy schedules, these kinds of questions have a way of slipping through the cracks of our everyday consciousness during our quietest moments. Our curiosity about ourselves and our place in the universe is very natural, and our ability to ask these kinds of questions and wonder about them is part of what makes us human.

A few years ago, it occurred to me that if I were asking these kinds of questions about the universe, then perhaps others might be as well, and so I made of list of all the people I would to approach for their views on the universe.  As I began conversing and having profound and transformative discussions with them, I noticed something very peculiar happening to me.  Bit by bit, so much of what had seemed so certain to me about the universe began slipping away.  The universe, it was turning out, was much, much more mysterious than I had initially thought, and it was leaving me with quite a conundrum.  Here I was, supposedly an expert on the universe as a professional astronomer, and yet after I began asking these kinds of questions, I found myself less and less able to say exactly what the universe actually is!

For example, modern physics holds that the entire universe (including ourselves) is made up exclusively of energy and matter, interacting in various ways to create the world we live in.  Yet in talking with various spiritual practitioners and indigenous elders about the universe, it seemed that very important nonphysical and yet undeniably real aspects of the cosmos were missing from our modern scientific view of it.  So it became increasingly clear that the universe is not just matter and energy but also has a profound spiritual dimension to it as well.  And yet this spiritual dimension is not separate from the material world we interact with on a daily basis.  The two are inextricably intertwined: matter and spirit, spirit and matter. We need both, because we live in a world that is both of these and so much more.

One of the results of asking these kinds of questions and interviewing people from all different fields and walks of life about the universe was my new book Cosmic Conversations www.cosmicconversations.org.  The other result was an appreciation that the universe is not only more complex than we think, but much more mysterious as well. How can the cosmos be matter, mind, energy, spirit, consciousness, love, truth, and all the other qualities we’ve discovered through our sciences, spiritual traditions, and personal lives?  To answer big cosmic questions such as these in a meaningful way, we need to ask more than a few experts and professionals – we need to start asking these questions ourselves.  “What is the universe for me?” is one of the most meaningful explorations we can have, because it begins to tie together our physical, moral, spiritual, outer, and inner lives together into one coherent whole.  Asking these kinds of questions of ourselves and those around us is one of the ways we make meaning of our world, how we find our place in the cosmos, our larger purpose, our higher values, and the truth of our deeper nature.

After a while, asking these kinds of ‘cosmic questions’ not only bring us clarity about what we believe about ourselves and the world, they also begin to slowly unravel what we previously thought we knew about who (and what) we thought we were.  This unraveling can be delicious, because as we begin to wrestle with the truth, untangling the myriad of knots that we find in ourselves, we begin to find that we are much more than we ever thought we were, and much more than we ever thought we could be.  We find ourselves drawn ever deeper into the mysteries of life, deeper into the mysteries of our inner depths, deeper into the starry cosmos, for at the mysterious center of things, we finally come home to discover that all these are one.

About Stephan Martin….

Stephan Martin, M.S., is an astronomer, educator, and writer who has taught astronomy and physics at colleges and educational centers across the U.S. for over twenty years. Currently Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Bristol Community College in southeastern Massachusetts, he is active in exploring and promoting interdisciplinary approaches to exploring the universe.  His current research and writing focuses on the transformative potential of the insights of modern science and their integration into personal experience and everyday life. He continues to lead innovative and learning programs in educational, holistic, and nontraditional learning settings that explore the innovative results of modern cosmology with the insights and practices of the world’s spiritual and indigenous traditions. He frequently lectures and gives presentations on astronomy and the wonders of the night sky at observatories, planetariums, and other popular venues, and has published a wide variety of articles on a multitude of topics that range from technical scientific research to academic papers in philosophy and humanities to popular-level articles on science education and everyday spirituality.  His new book, Cosmic Conversations, is a collection of interviews with scientists, spiritual teachers, indigenous elders, and cultural creatives on the topic of “What is the Universe?” His website is: www.cosmicconversations.org.

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