Awaken To TRUTH!

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm back, only for this month of November. As I'd promised, I will only do a blog post at those times when I feel it's imperative that I share. I am doing so now because of recent events. Please read on. And: HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2019!

We all are practiced in many ways of navigating our lives. We know that certain actions have certain consequences, so we stay clear of taking certain negative actions so as to evade the negative reactions.

Then...LIFE happens.

We may call it "LIFE," but truthfully, it's the SPIRIT and POWER within us that leads the way.

When "life" happens, it truly is not an arbitrary happening. The purpose of the life happening is intended to do one of three things:

• Avert our direction from heading into a Netherland..
•  Cause us to go deeper within.

• Give up our tried and true "philosophies" and ways of life and go deeper within. 

Let's start with the last point.

We may argue that we are already living from "deep within."  We may be doing daily meditations and prayer work,  and we don't think there's room to go much farther. After all, we've been on this road for decades and all have led us to the "now here" practices.

Truth: We can never be truly deep enough. Unless we are operating totally on a higher level in all that we think, do and say, we are not in deep enough.

Often, we make surface decisions, based on EGO gratifications without truly thinking that we may not be coming from a HOLY place. 

Then, if we feel we're coming from a HOLY place, are we sure we still are not operating from the perspective of EGO, rather than for the good of all concerned?

As to the second point above...well, we always have to get deeper within. Get to the core of our rationale before we make important decisions.   

Once we recognize that we may be operating from EGO but this is supported by our within, then we're aligned with our Spirit. And if ego is happy too, then we've got a WIN/WIN.

The first point gets tricky.

We think, based on all we know, that going right is the way to go. We line up all our ducks in a row to keep moving to the right...to the right...to the right. We're doing everything that we can to support this movement. And up to a point, a critical point, all of "life" seems to be moving to the right with us.

Then suddenly, the air begins to change.

Things begin to happen and the atmosphere begins to change.

We can sniff the change, but we ignore it, still desperately longing to continue right.

Our Soul then screams!

We respond by taking seemingly impulsive, uncharacteristic actions. It's only then that we may realize that our going left, instead of right,  is our Soul's way of getting us back on track. We may have given up on the road of developing further our deep-seated personal goals and ambitions by compromising with the "also ran."

All three of the points above can occur simultaneously, then we have a HUGE wake-up call.

I say this because of two recent happenings. One was something that directly affected me, which was just to avert my direction, but the other was to a dear friend, who had a major wake-up call to totally change directions.

This healthful living man, who subscribed to a vegan diet, and even wrote a monthly newsletter on Healthy Living, was recently diagnosed with bladder cancer. As a practicing physician and Internal Medicine specialist for more than 50 years, he never smoked. He knew this was a major contributor to bladder cancer. But he got the cancer anyway.

In his note, he said it was a "bolt out of the blue."

He's 82 years old and thought he'd ride out the rest of his life in tranquility, just writing his newsletter and offering sound health-living counsel wherever he could. Now...this.

My friend is deeply spiritual, with years of  spiritual training, so I know that if anyone can beat this Big C by going deeper within and continuing to eat the natural, healthy foods he's promoted for so long, he will.

Follow my friend's blog at: 

https://www.thepoweroflifestyle.com

You can subscribe, free of charge, so the blog comes directly to your inbox.

The truth is: we're all fighting for our lives in  some way. The key is that as we fight for life, we also stay connected to others, to stay in the FLOW of LIFE and LIVING. That's exactly what my friend, Ed Dodge, is doing. Send him your love and support, as he battles the demon of the Big C.

As for me... I'm going to follow Spirit and go LEFT.

Namaste',

Che'

Recommended Book: "Seven Storey Mountain," by Thomas Merton, an Autobiography of Faith

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you're looking to explore and understand your spiritual path and the longing in your Soul, this is a book for you. This is especially so for those who are longing to understand the Catholic Faith.

Thomas Merton is beyond an excellent story teller. He reaches into your Soul.

"The Seven Storey Mountain" is the story of how this former atheist was led step by step to become baptized in the Catholic faith, then transformed into one of the most committed Souls to Christ and Our Lady of Peace. His longing and attempts to become a Franciscan monk only highlight the challenges we all face, as we try to rise above our previous walks in life. But then his triumph in becoming a Trappist Monk is the story we can all celebrate as we feel the touch of Grace, God's Mercy and Love in our lives.

Every page offers wisdom from beginning to end. Let me highlight for you, my reader, a passage towards the end:

"Before we were born, God knew us. He knew that some of us would rebel against His love and His mercy, and that others would love Him from the moment that they could love anything, and never change that love. He knew that there would be joy in heaven among the angels of His house for the conversion of some of us, and He knew that He would bring us all here to Gethsemani together, one day, for His own purpose, for the praise of his love.

"The life of each one in this abbey is part of mystery. We all add up to something far beyond ourselves. We cannot realize what it is. But we know in the language of our theology, that we are all members of the Mystical Christ, and that we all grow together in Him for Whom all things were created.

"In one sense, we are always travelling and travelling as if we did not know where we were going.

"In another sense, we have already arrived.

"We cannot arrive at the perfect possession of God in this life, and that is why we are travelling and in darkness. But we already possess Him by grace, and therefore in that sense, we have arrived and are dwelling in the light.

"But oh! How far have I to go to find You in Whom I have already arrived!"

I recommend this book for the salvation of your Soul and for a powerful rest of your journey on Earth.

Namaste',

Che'

Your Spiral Staircase to... Freedom

The old adage“silence is golden” becomes more apparent and meaningful, as we grow along the spiritual path. Like a spiraling staircase, we can’t see to the top, but we know it’s there.

Spiraling around each step along the staircase very carefully, not seeing or knowing when the end will come…if ever, in our lifetime.

"For as the body without spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." James 21:26    

We keep moving upward (inward) and seemingly going around and around, and assuredly ascending, carried strictly by our faith. We don't know what we’ll experience when we get to the next plateau, much less what's at the top, or end of the journey. But knowing that "faith without works is dead," we keep moving.

Imagine, though, that as we're treading each step carefully, midway up someone comes along and tries to talk.  Can we keep our focus? Perhaps, but the walk upward  suddenly is not as meaningful nor insightful because now we need to give attention to both the staircase and the other person.

Without realizing it, now we find ourselves going around and around, without much ascension because our attention is now divided.

Matthew 6:22 speaks of this:

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."  

"But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness."

Then comes the warning about double-mindedness:

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”  Matthew 6:24 

Many of us striving for spiritual growth are walking the way of the double-minded man. Indeed, it seems next to impossible …on the surface…to do otherwise. Unless we’re part of a full-time ministry and serving at some level of dedication, we’re seemingly forced to walk in two ways:

• The way of the world 
• And the way of spiritual commitment. 

The two seem to be an unholy mix.

Yet, there are those finding ways outside the ministry that provide truly holy and wholesome lifestyles.

Take a look at these people:

John and Ocean Robbins, respectively, a father and son team that is dedicated to providing food and nutrition information that empower people to take control of their lives.  John is of the Baskin Robbins family but chose a life outside the family business to offer more to people. Here's the link to their revolutionary food Website: Food Revolution.

Dr. Wylie Carhartt is a young and up-coming medical doctor, based in Phoenix, Ariz., who honors the Hippocratic Oath and the field of medicine, while also respecting his patients' needs to marry medicine with their natural health programs. Dr. Carhartt also defies the image of the doctor whose bedside manner is to rush in and out of appointments; he chooses instead to present the image to his patients  that he’s working on their time. This is an awesome young doctor who you can totally trust for your care or that of  your children or parents. We would all be blessed if more doctors had Dr. Carhartt's style and demeanor.  

Dr. Ed Dodge, a retired doctor, also is reminiscent of the caring physician who is using his retirement from family medicine to make even more of an impact in helping people take control of their health and healthcare. Check out his website here: Power of Lifestyle. 

Michael Singer, author of  best-selling, "The Untethered Soul," and other books, seems to have struck a comfortable life of spirituality, balanced with successful business endeavors. 

Deepak Chopra, MD, is a walking example of living a successful life all generated from a spiritual lifestyle. (Many others authors of spiritual books and teachers of spirituality also seem to marry spirituality with a comfortable lifestyle.) 

Then, we also have Oprah Winfrey, talk show hostess,  who already was successful when she switched gears and began to offer spirituality as a way of life for her audiences.

Different generations seem to bring those who offer their wisdom and insights for those striving to find yet another way to walk successful through life, without selling our Souls. Joel S. Goldsmith is a master guru who in the 1950s and 1960s offered many comfort, hope and triumph to transcend the challenges of daily life. Through his Infinite Way organization, Goldsmith focused on the consciousness within us as our true power. He strongly believed that once we focus on this consciousness that fuels us, we are empowered to do and be anything we wish.

Getting to know this consciousness that resides within is our life's journey, no matter how we wind up looking to find it. Some choose to go searching via the dark ways of the world, others through a heightened sense of illumination. We must remember though, as we get lost along the way, only getting back to the center of our being will bring us the wholeness we desperately seek. For each of us, this is an individual thing. Though we may seek guidance and wisdom from spiritual leaders and teachers, ultimately, no other person can take the ride with us, or for us. 

We thus must stay vigilant so as not to get lost by those who would try to accompany and direct us as we make our way along the unending pathway of the spiral "staircase" to our Soul. 

Stay focused. Stay true to your goal. Seek direction from within...this should ultimately be your only guide.

Namaste',
Che'

Keep A True Lent...For Non-Christians, Too

EDITOR'S NOTE: Lent, according to the dictionary, "is the period preceding Easter that in the Christian Church is devoted to fasting, abstinence, and penitence in commemoration of Christ's fasting in the wilderness. In the Western Church it runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday and so includes 40 weekdays."

Credit: Beautiful &Amazing Photo

This year, as you're aware, both Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day fell on the same day: February 14.

I knew right away that this was no accident, and there was an inherent message in the phenomenon. To me, there are no "coincidences" in life. The challenging part, though, with all these happenings is figuring out the meaning.

 I finally did, and I'm hopeful that by the end of this post, you draw the same conclusion I did about this special day in February 2018.

So, now I want you to un-see the image above and take a conscious step away from there, i.e. the place where the moon meets the sea. 

Most of our lives we seem to strive to get to that place in life, i.e. where everything merges into one. But I believe this is wrong. And during the rest of this Lenten period, I want you to consciously undo seeing or striving for Oneness. During Lent:
Don’t go to a place inside where you can’t see differences anymore.

Credit: Sonora Borealis in southern California. 
The photo was taken from a mountain ridge near
Tuscon, AZ

Go instead to the place where there are separations and differences and a variety of spices and smells. And find those that don't easily blend together. 

Go to the place inside where every thing is unique and different and awesome. And when you get there, hold on and fight hard to see beauty and depths into the being-ness of each "thing" you encounter. 


Hold on and keep fighting to stay there. 

As you fight to stay there, hold on to all the things you know make you unique in this world, i.e. the issues you're passionate about, the events that activate your emotions... thoughts, dreams and spark hope in you. 

Hold onto them...really hard. 

Begin to know and realize that these "uniquely you"  features are keeping you alive and striving and looking forward....

When you're in this stage of noticing a difference between you and me, and arguing passionately for your position, and recognizing that different people live in the world: this state is bliss, if we only but know it.

For when we're in this state,  only two things will happen:  either the world around us shifts to our view or we shift and see things from a different perspective. 

Either way,  life is moving forward. And we’re vibrantly and passionately participating in it.
We're in the flow of life. 

When life stops and becomes still and nothing is moving, we should be troubled. If all symbols that once represented life merge into one, then nothing has deep meaning anymore.

As much as we admire the beautiful image above, we want the moon and the sun and the sea to each have their own identities, don’t we? We are grateful, aren’t we, that the image is only an illusion? 

What if the sun became the moon, and the sea is only the platform for both each day when we look outside? What if the sun did not do its "thing" and  did not have a real function? What if the moon had none of its own, or the sea ? 

Would the world still seem as beautiful? Would we have the joy of living each day with a different flow and glow? 

Surely, we’d become nostalgic for days when the bright sunshine woke us up. 

And if the moon stayed hidden behind the sun for days ...what a confusing day that would be! Only sunshine all day...

We may love the sun but with no difference from the moon, we would begin to resent its presence in our lives.

So it is with our emotions.

We then should be grateful when we feel "something" about different things, as this  is a signal that we're engaging and are fully alive in the vicissitudes of life. Even the most annoying person with whom we disagree...even the most trifling person we know ...is playing a very important role in our lives. By their very presence and their opposing views, they are helping us further refine and define ourselves. Where they stand is a view we do not want, and we clearly are able to know who we are and what and how we look at ourselves and the world around us. 

These folks are keeping us awake, active and participating in the day to day flow of life. We may not all yet realize this, but: 

*Stillness is good, especially after activity.

*Silence is appreciated, especially after much talking or listening.

*Walking or any activitiy is good, not only for our health, but especially after inactivity.

We greatly appreciate most things in our lives only because of its exact opposite.

Life is to be lived, and we're all required to participate...to stay alive. 

We must be in the flow to live.

This means embracing all the good, all the bad, and other emotions, feelings and activities in between. 

On any given day, we may have many colorful characters enter our world: some may bring joy, sorrow, frustration and/or annoyance. Others may be our teachers about different ways we can navigate through life or ways to rise to another level. But by their differences, they bring to us the ingredients for life. 

These different folks were placed in our path...not by accident, but they were chosen to be here right now and in our very space by a divine plan in the overall scheme of things. So, don’t let their presence derail your goals or being-ness in life. Hang on even tighter to what you believe and want out of life. That's why they came...and specifically now...

Just so you can be... 

Every experience that may seem painful...may have us wanting to lock ourselves away from life and living...is there to serve us.  The most important thing we have to remember during these times is to "stay in the flow" of it all.

A  book, written by Eric Butterworth, that I highly recommend

The day we begin to feel that the moon and the stars are one and the same is the day we must get up and fight for our survival.

No two days should feel the same, because no two days are exactly the same.

If you're in an environment where the sameness of the days is beginning to stifle you: look to make some changes.

*If it’s a workplace: ask for a difference role. 
*If it’s in a relationship: create new ways of seeing and being with each other.
*If it’s in a family: change your place in the lineup and subtly switch your view of “those that are last,” and “those that shall be first."

Nothing is ever as it seems, especially in the dynamics of families, or in intimate relationships or special friendships. We just need to go beyond the surface and find the gifts hidden behind each facade, each disturbance, each shared joy or sorrow. 

The Red Vineyard: the only painting that Vincent van Gogh
ever sold during his lifetime

"Take your share of the world and let
others take theirs."

Each of us came here on Earth for a divine purpose, but it sometimes becomes hidden because some people in leading positions take the reins as if the entire world were intended only for them and their "kind." 

These people may truly never be able to appreciate the beauty and the blessing of diversity here on Earth. Yet, were they to be introduced to the sameness of their own thoughts and manners, they would choke with the dust of mildew threatening to stifle them. Fortunately for them, though, they are graced by diversity around them. ...keeping them alive.

We hear often, “life is what we make of it.” This is true. But the first gift of life is that we’re given an opportunity each day to walk into life and our world with a new set of lens.

We should be able to awaken to the true beauty all around us. We are called to see more than what meets the eye, i.e. the moon touching the sea and becoming one. We want to see the sparkle of the sun, by itself, and its reflection in our world. We want to see the moon in all its glory, charming us at night, and stars winking at us in the expansive sky. And the sea...the water...what treasures lie within its changing moods, as it ebbs and flows.

These things are our life.. Through their existence, our lives should become richer and more glorious each day as we deepen our appreciation of each and every one.   

“With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it still is a beautiful world.” -Desiderata, Max Ehrmann

Christian or non Christian: Keep a True Lent! Stay true to your uniqueness, as you hold fast to your hopes, dreams and life’s promises. Learn to Love Yourself!

There’s time enough to get to the place where the sun, moon, stars, sea and the ocean do become ONE. 

Namaste’,
Che’ 

The Greatest Gift of All: It Lasts A Lifetime

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post refers specifically to Christmas. For my readers of a different faith, please substitute your special religious holiday as is appropriate. 

'Tis three nights before Christmas. Not a creature is stirring...not a sound can be heard.

I'd created this space and this time to give myself the greatest of Christmas gifts I craved:
Time and Silence.

Should I step out of this sacred space I've created, I'd see the evidence of the Christmas holiday everywhere: gifts under the tree; holiday fruits and cakes; food to prepare and cards all around. They all speak to the activities of the last several weeks and days.

But just for tonight: this space is mine.

The profound sound of Silence.
The profound energy of Time. Alone. Silent.

I don't want to hear a Christmas Carol. I don't want to see the lights of the Christmas tree.
I don't want to feel the beauty of the Season.

I just want to be.

I'd prepared for this by settling in early for a nap. I was in such a determined mood that I'd drowned out all thoughts of tomorrow and the activities of the next few days ahead trying to flood my consciousness.

Now...I just want to be.

I can't tell you why this gift I've given myself seemed more urgent and important this year than any other.

Perhaps it's because the year literally just flew by in a whirl, December 2017 catching up with January of the same year in one tremendous breath.

There seemed to be little time this year to think about the 'morrows' coming, because one came right after the other.  All the holidays seemed to melt into one, and only yesterday we seemed to be celebrating Christmas 2016.

So, yes... give me this gift of Time and Silence.

Ahhhhhh.

Now that's out...let's measure the moment.

Let's truly look at this moment for what it means to you and to me.

This one moment in time.

What am I doing in this moment that brings me so much Peace?
What am I enjoying so much in this moment that brings me utter Joy?
What am I inhaling that brings me sheer Happiness?

Silence at any time brings the spirit of our being to the surface.

As I dwell seemingly alone in this sacred space, I have the deepest awareness
that I am not alone and that I am in communion with my Soul.

The sweet Joy, Peace and Happiness come from the Profound bonding with my Soul.
Even as I type, I feel its Presence guiding me. I feel the deepness of our Connection. 
I feel my thirst being quenched, as I feed from the trough of communion for which I'd longed over the past several weeks.

When we begin to hear and discern the call of the Soul, some people may run away for a vacation at a beach or someplace exotic, thinking that they need a change of scenery. But that's far from what they need, and eventually as they discern the Soul's more urgent calls, they begin to realize that those techniques do not work for them anymore:

The Soul wants what it wants, and often it's simply for us to: "Be Still and Know!"

The Soul will keep demanding this over and over, until we learn the lesson of "being still."

I'm swallowing the purity of its nectar, even as I type. I long to share it with you.

I want you to feel what I feel.
I want you to be as quenched as I now am.
I want so much for you to connect and understand the ground on which I now stand.

Hear me, now:
This communion is available any time of day or night, at a moment's notice, but it's not as profound as when it follows periods of great activities. For some, daily meditation might work. But the Holy Listening to the Soul is something more urgent.

It's a setting aside of our daily going to and fro, indeed a separation from the physical aspects of what keeps us thriving in the world, to pay attention to the Master within. It's about going above the normal frays of life and walking quietly into a sacred chamber that fuels our being.

When we are able to connect only in snatches of time...and then perhaps with strangers all around...the sweetness of the encounter is certainly not as  great. It's meditation, which temporarily refreshes, but we still continue to hear ...and even feel...the roar from within.

Stop now!

So, tonight, I'm drinking from a bubbling spring of Pure Essence. I am still.
I am listening.

I am with you. 
I am here. 

Thank you.
Thank you, O my Soul. 

I think now, too, of the origin of this awareness that we never walk alone.
I think, now, of my mother, who instilled in all her children a love of God.
I think of how much my life would be missing if she had not taught us about prayer and given us an awareness of a power greater than ourselves at work in our lives at all times.

*My mother's Soul remains with me even though it's been decades since her death in 1993.

Her Soul still lives with me.

I know this is so because in the Presence of my own Soul I bear witness to all that was, is, and will be.

I observe people each day... especially during this special time of year... the holiday season... carrying forward their own family traditions: this is evident in foods they cook and share, and what they do during the season. The activities may seem to surround the birth of Christ, or about the Festival of Lights, i.e. Hanukkah, but if we truly get into the "spirit" of the celebrations, we'll see that it's really about our reconnecting with Souls from many generations and centuries ago. (How Santa Claus Originated.)

Each year as we become a year older, the subtly of aging is never more noticeable than in the habits and traditions we've formed. We become our parents, as they live in us and in all we do and say, and in how we navigate our way through the world.

Some of us may spend this time of year entertaining and fixing special meals, and hosting parties.
Others may see this time as one of reflection, honoring the religious rituals of the Season.
Yet others may see it as a time to connect with old friends, family and others.
Then, there's the shopping and gift giving in which we all participate and is a rite of the Season.

Living only from the surface of things, we may miss the gifts inherent in the Season.

It's a time for prayer.
It's a time for reflection.
It's a time for connecting with our Soul.
It's a time for celebrating those who have passed on but whose Spirit, Soul and Essence remain steadfast in us. 

If you learned how to reflect or pray in childhood, in adulthood, or somewhere in between:
You were given the greatest gift of all.

When we pray, we are not praying to some strange, unknown God.
We are praying to our Essence...our Soul... where God resides.
He is more familiar with us than we are with ourselves.

This is a gift of communion with ourselves, and it cannot be packaged, then bought or sold.
It can be taught to others, but it can't be shared.
No one can steal this gift from us, or cheat us out of it...only we can
cheat ourselves by not recognizing its value. 

This holiday season, I want you to put aside all the gifts that money can buy and do this, especially with your children: 

Teach them how to pray. Teach them how to                                                                                           just... be...with themselves.

As the years pile onto their human frames, they will realize and deeply appreciate that
you would have given them the greatest gift of all....as it lasts a lifetime and will also carry them through any and all vicissitudes of life.

Make this Christmas really special: teach your children how to pray!

Happy Holidays! 

Have a tremendously blessed 2018!

My heart belongs to you!

Namaste',
Che'

* Note: Pay attention to this trait in the passing of your parents or a close family member or even friend. See their essence has lingered and become a part of you.