Leo Tolstoy on God

LEO TOLSTOY ON GOD: "When you look inside yourself, you see what is called 'your own self' or your soul. You cannot touch it or see it or understand it, but you know it is there. And this part of yourself--that which you cannot understand--is what is called God. God is both around us and inside of us--in our souls.

The more you understand that you are at one with God, the more you will understand that you are at one with all His worldly manifestations."

Sunday, February 22, 2009

It's All Black and White with "Beautiful People" Dr. & Mrs. Ed Dodge, Inverness, Florida


The eyes tell the story about this couple.

Just one look into each of their eyes, and you know!

The TRUTH.
These are people who are serious about life... about truth...about
the way they treat others
.

Then you see them look at each other, and again, the eyes
tell the story: they are serious about love for each other!

It is rare to encounter people who are so direct in their purpose
and their Spirit for the world to see.

But that's what you get with this beautiful couple, Dr. & Mrs. Ed Dodge of Inverness, Florida.
Everything about them is straightforwardly simple. It's really...all Black and White.

Like with most people who wind up in such a good place, the journey
getting there took some effort.

For Ed Dodge, his journey began as the son of missionaries.
His life, indeed, really did begin with the stark contrast of the lives of those who are "black and white." Ed spent the first years of his life in Africa.

His parents, Ralph and Eunice, were sent on a mission to Angola when he was only three months old.


In Angola, he was called "Tim," though Ralph Edward Dodge, Jr. was his real name. "Tim" literally had a life in those early years that represented the culture of blacks and whites at the time.

He was brought up by a black nanny, Julia, who "carried Tim swaddled on her back while she did housework, just as all Angolan mothers carried their babies."


Julia was a member of the Kimbundu tribe and spoke both Kimbundu and Portuguese. Tim's first language then was Portuguese.

English came more slowly.

His early life in Luanda, the capital city of Angola, certainly established a path for developing an interest in medicine and an openness to life.

Tim fought off the effects of mercury poisoning from the wrong chewable tablets he was given to treat malaria. He then had fights with insects, especially an army of ants that attacked more than half of his lower body one day. So in those early years, he also learned much about perseverance and survival.


Tim's story is told in a book of the same name that Ed Dodge published in 2005.

Upon returning to the United States at age five, the young boy known as "Tim" became known as Ed. But the lasting effects of those early years could never be erased in a heart that was opened to the richness of Spirit, diversity of life and cultures beyond just those of Blacks and Whites.


Ed obtained his medical degree from Indiana University and his master of Public Health from John Hopkins University. He taught Public Health in Ethiopia for two years, then returned to the States and became a public health director in the rural United States.

Ed completed his medical career as a family physician, and over those years of practicing medicine he learned that in order to treat a person, the "whole person must be embraced...body, mind and spirit."

In his retirement from medicine, Ed has gone on to doing just that with his "Wellness Explorations." He's established this program specifically to empower people to take control of their inner health and overall wellness, not just a physical ailment.

You then pair Ed with Carol Fitzgerald, born in Barnum, Iowa,(with a population of a whooping 150 people!!!). What you get is a combustion of goodness and light, shining the way for so many others.
(The next two photos are of Barnum, Iowa.)


Carol says,"Ed and I are committed to being all we can be as individuals. We support each other's goals. We see our marriage as an opportunity to share the experience with a partner by often inviting each other to participate in the creations."

That participation in creation will soon take the couple to a new life in San Antonio, Texas, within the next few months. This is where Carol plans to establish herself as an Avatar© Master with training she gained through Star's Edge Inc., Orlando. Ever open to change, her practice, like Ed's is called, "Avatar Explorations."


Ed and Carol met at Unity Village in May 1999. They actually met at a "Sacred Silent Retreat." Since they could not talk, their communications were all in the eyes...and yes, Ed did pass Carol a couple of notes, "since we weren't supposed to be talking," she says.


The couple were married a few short months later on December 17, 1999 at the Fillmore Chapel at Unity Village. Life since then has been a continuing journey of growth, exceeding their wildest expectations.
Both Carol and Ed graduated from Unity's Spiritual Enrichment and Enlightenment program in 1998. Ed continued on to become a licensed Unity Teacher. Carol said she wanted something else.

"I reached a point in my life where I knew I'd read enough books, attended enough churches, retreats, lectures and seminars. In order to experience enlightenment, I had to go beyond the mind."

"Two days later, an Avatar© Journal arrived in the mail. I followed that lead and life has not been the same since."

Carol Dodge is a woman of power within her own right.
Before meeting Ed in 1999, Carol spent approximately 25 years in San Antonio, Texas. With a master's degree in Education, Carol for many years taught every grade from K-12 and some college graduate level courses. Because of her caring nature, she also found a way to focus on "at-risk" learners and literacy in the Language Arts area. She also was a curriculum specialist and before retiring in 2007 for many years she was a consultant, traveling around the United States giving seminars and workng in classrooms to help teachers and students experienc success with current research based techniques.

Carol always has searched for TRUTH.

Growing up Catholic in Barnum, Carol as a teenager came to a crisis point in her faith, when she questioned the practices she was taught to follow. She became even more confused when the practices she'd been taught also began to shift.

"It became that St. Christopher, on the dash of the car, whom we always prayed to for a safe journey suddenly became suspect, as there didn't seem to be enough evidence to support him being a saint. It was all very confusing. It felt like alot of things that made us Catholic were being pulled out from under us."


"Finding Unity in 1986," she says, "was like a breath of fresh air!"

Today, Carol says,"Through the Avatar© courses, I am learning to look at the patterns in my life. I'm examining my beliefs about everything and exploring the different identities I've adopted. It's amazing to realize that I can discover so much about myself that I didn't realize. Most exhilarating of all, she says, is to find out that I can eliminate the beliefs and identities that haven't been working for me and to replace them with new ones that do work. I'm finding I'm less defined and rigid...and DEFINITELY HAPPIER."

As an Avatar© Master, Carol says she's learned how the mind really works and has reset her personal filter to "I am happy now."

It used to be, she says, that she piled things into one of two piles: "the good and the bad." But now she's gotten in touch with that transparent identity, "which was victimhood," she says.



"I was always picking out what someone was doing to me, or not doing for me," she says. "I was not taking responsibility for my own happiness and holding my happiness off until this person changed his or her behavior or that situation changed. Not anymore!

"Looking back over my life, I can see where every single event had to happen in order for me to experience this moment with true inner peace and gratitude. I am no longer fearful of bad things happening in my life. I have a huge set of effective tools and a network of support that's always available."

Carol's personal philosophy is this: "Life is about evolving in every area. It doesn't matter so much what one chooses to do. Life is about BEING. Obviously, we should select something that taps into our talents and makes our heart sing. But more importantly, we should be open to the lessons that each moment brings us to learn about ourselves and about life, to evolve from what we are to what we can become."

She also has a new understanding of enlightenment. What?

She does not share it outright.

But this should give you a clue.

About God, Carol says,
"God is impossible to define. But I see God as everything that is seen and unseen. God is LIFE. I also realize that as God, LIFE JUST IS! I am the Source of the script that gets wrriten around the events of my life. That is empowering."


While Carol has been getting ready for the move to San Antonio, Texas, Ed meanwhile was gone for most of the month of January. He was on a special mission in Ethopia as part of "Project Mercy" of Fort Wayne, Indiana. He spent his month there teaching youth and others Literacy, Basic Arithmetic, Nutrition and Primary Health Care (hygiene, sanitation and Disease Awareness).
To view exciting photos of Ed's recent trip with Project Mercy in Ethiopia, cut/paste this link:
http://projectmercyinethiopia2009.shutterfly.com/ One of the photos documents Ed and an aged Ethopia hermit. This is a precious sight!

(Ed's second book, Dan's Story, was published in summer 2008)
Matthew 6: 22"The light of the body is the eye.
If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be filled with light."



Ed and Carol Dodge have only just begun to put their single-mindedness to work, serving the common good. The path they will establish will bless the way for more than the four children and 12 grandchildren they have between them. Ed has two sons and a daughter and 10 grandchildren; Carol has one son and two grandchildren.

One of the principal reasons for their moving to San Antonio is that Carol's grandchildren, located there, are only two years and five years old. Five of Ed's grandkids in Inverness are at middle and high school levels, thus now have evolved into activities that keep them away from home: sports, church and friendships.

The light being shone by Ed and Carol Dodge will illuminate the lives of many throughout the world, as they stay busy traveling, spending time with friends and family and "never being at a loss when it comes to keeping life interesting." Carol says.

Namaste',
Che'
NOTE: You may access Ed Dodge's Website at: http://passionforhealth.info. A quicker way is to click on the link on the side under "Wholeness for everyday!" Because of the move to Texas, Carol Dodge's Website has been delayed. You can contact her through Ed, for now, if you need to reach her.
I met both Carol and Ed, at separate times, during classes at Unity
Village
in 1998. We have stayed in touch over the years.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Work of the Soul: It's NOT An Overnight Thing!


All men may be created equal, but when it comes to Souls, not all are at the same stage of evolution!

In this lifetime, some of us are here just to "BE"; others to have fun, and yet others to enjoy the "fruits of our labor." Then there are those who are here to re-connect closer to the Soul within them.

According to author and spiritual teacher, Gary Zukav (see upcoming Book Review, Seat of the Soul, on March 22), we know we are on a Soul connection when we are able to plug into multi-sensory perceptions vs. only those of the five senses. So, if you know you "sense" things beyond what you can hear, see, touch, feel and smell, and you have a magnificent obsession with discovering more about what you "sense," then you're here on your Soul's journey of reconnection.

And when it comes to the work of your Soul, there is NO timetable!

The process is the thing.

That process can take many, many years, and there can be many stops and starts. ONLY YOU know the truth about you and your Soul and your "becoming!"


Don't ever, ever let ANY ONE stand in the way of you and your Go(o)d on your way to that "becoming!"

Many times the road is dark and lonely. You feel all alone. Compounded with that, there are those who would want you to begin to doubt yourself, who would try to ridicule you and shame you, because you're no longer occupied with "things" of the world! They would have you think that they are blessed and you are CURSED, because maybe you're not as outwardly successful as they seem to be. A few, really unconcious and presumptuous ones, may even try to suggest that THEY, not your Soul, not God, have "things" to TEACH you!

Don't get distracted by such nonsense...because that's ALL it is! You are on your way to BECOMING! You'll be much freer than they could ever dream of being!



Don't ever let ANYONE put you on their timetable or schedule for becoming ...ANYTHING!


The work of your Soul is between you and your God, i.e. your Soul!

Matthew 8: 23: "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead!"

This has oft been misinterpreted, but what Jesus essentially meant here is: "Let the things of the past remain there!"

I know this to be true when I've gone contrary to this wisdom...

Don't drag along someone from your past into your future...if he or she doesn't belong there! People are in your life for a reason and a season! Few should be invited to accompany you in a lifetime.

KNOW this!

Indeed, even if your family stands in the way of you and your Go(o)d, leave them behind, too.

Matthew 12:25:"Every kingdom divided against itself shall not stand!"
Matthew 13:57:"A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country and in his own house!"

Jesus also said you cannot find the kingdom of God, unless you're willing to give up father, mother, wife (husband), children, sister and brother. Even your own self...and your OLD values!


Luke 14:26: "If any man come to me and hate not his father, and mother and wife and children and brethen and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."

If your family and others in your life are seeing life from the inactive side of Infinity, they will never fully understand what you're up to. So sometimes, walking away from them is necessary in this walk with the Soul! Send them love from a distance!

Mark 9:47: "And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out. It is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into the hell fire."

Don't let anyone, with his or her own agenda, intolerance or ignorance, stand in the way of your connecting fully to your Soul!

Please enjoy the poem, below, written after a long night with my Soul!

Namaste',

Che'

Oh, my SOUL! by Che'


Oh my soul!

How lost I was to Thee!
Oh my soul...
When I could not see the truth of what you were to me!
Oh my soul!



There were so many barriers
Placed to separate us...
First, there were people
Next, there were places
Then, there were things...
Objects of my desire



If Only I knew then
All that you meant to me!
Oh my soul!
Without you I was lost
Life had little meaning; it was all a farce
Oh! My soul!



How lost I was to thee
When in people, places and in things
I placed my faith
Not knowing
Only claiming
A life as empty as it could be
When the truth
Of you to me
I could not see



Oh my Soul!

The years of your absence have taken a toll
Now I’ve grown old
Yet in my Spirit
I’ve found a life...
Worth so much more than Gold!



Oh my soul!



How treasured you will be
In all the years left in me!
I’ve searched the fields far & wide
Through all the places you had to hide
I’ve found my pearl
I’ve found my wealth
I’ve found the riches I thought I’d spent!



About the years ahead
I feel a Glow
And now the world we must Show
Oh my soul
The power in me that you
Flow
Through me
As me
Oh, my soul!



Che’

NOTE: We'll continue this theme on the Soul in another post in April. Just in time for Valentine's Day, see the invitation to get "LOVESICK:" L(eave) O (thers) feeling V(ery) E(volved) and S(earching) I(nside) for C(larity) and K(indness). To do so, forward this blog to those who may be interested!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Learning to Live Deliberately as an Avatar!




Many, many years ago, someone at Unity Village, where I was taking classes, shared with me information on “Living Deliberately,” as an avatar. I was fascinated and immediately ordered the book and home study course on Living Deliberately.”

The book and materials cost approximately $25, and I got much more than my money's worth! Through the workbook on “Resurfacing Techniques,” I was able to assess different periods in my life where events had happened, but I was not fully aware of their impact and thus did not appropriately address those situations at the time. I clearly saw then how the residuals effects from those “unconscious events” were manifesting in my life.

So powerful were the “Living Deliberately” book and its companion “Resurfacing” workbook on my overall experience that I sought to find a “master” in my area to continue further study. Alas, however, there was none to be found.

Since then, the landscape of Star’s Edge Avatar program has changed dramatically and significantly from those days, which must have been in the early 90s.


New “Avatar© Masters” are being licensed at a very impressive rate, and I’m sure there is at least one in every major metropolitan area in the United States. The reason, very simply, is that the techniques work!


The basic Avatar© program offers you a look at events in life that you may not have even noticed, much less realized, their impact on your current life situation. What is even more impressive is that the program makes total and absolute sense and does not require you to suspend your sense of reality and experience to “get it.”

The Beginning
Avatar©self development system of courses was introduced by Harry Palmer, born April 3, 1944. He developed the system of courses and founded and owns Star's Edge, Inc., which trains and licenses Avatar© Masters (teachers) to deliver the Avatar© Course worldwide.

In October 1986, Palmer released the first version of The Avatar Course. Today, the course now has five sections, with licensed Avatar© Masters teaching the first three, and the two advanced sections being taught at Star's Edge, Inc.
headquarters in Orlando, Florida.


Star’s Edge Florida Headquarters manages more than 10,000 licensed Avatar© teachers (masters) in 71 countries. Supervising this network are a staff of administrators and a team of experienced trainers from Australia, Germany, Holland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, USA, and Venezuela.

Star's Edge, Inc. also hosts advanced courses in Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Europe, and United States

Founder’s Background & Beginnings
Palmer often is portrayed as an educational psychologist. In actuality, he received a Bachelor of Art in English from Ithaca College in 1969 and a Masters in Education from Elmira College in 1971, and gained certification to teach English in secondary schools.

Harry Palmer and his Star-Edge, Inc., wife and partner, Avra Honey-Smith, both studied Scientology for many years and achieved high levels in the religion. For approximately 10 years, 1974-1984, Palmer officially operated a Scientology mission for the Church of Scientology in Elmira, New York.


Palmer’s relationship with the Church of Scientology ended abruptly in 1ate 1984 and soon after, he produced the first of the Avatar-related materials, including the Thoughtstorm Manual. This and other early Avatar materials made extensive use of Scientology terminology, according to research.


It seems that Palmer has been able to cull the best of Scientology and marry those teachings with the best of East/West teachings on Consciousness and Human Development. Something clearly is working for folks taking the program!


What does "Avatar" Really Mean?


Avatar, in English, basically means "an embodiment, a bodily manifestation of the Divine." However, the Sanskrit word Avatara means "incarnation." The term is used primarily in Hindu texts. For example, Krishna is the eighth avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu the Preserver, whom many Hindus worship as God. The Dasavatara are ten particular "great" incarnations of Vishnu.


Granted, studying Avatar© materials is not for everyone. Neither is the price tag, where master courses run into the thousands of dollars. But even getting the "Living Deliberately" materials and the Resurfacing workbook will provide preliminary insights into the teaching, can only elevate your thinking and help you to begin living deliberately.If applied conscientiously, I truly believe the avatar teachings can have a powerful impact on your life in a very positive and empowering way.




The Program
The nine-day self-empowerment Avatar training is delivered by an Avatar© Master. The exercises, drills and procedures followed are done to understand and increase the techniques for living deliberately. This essentially means to live as a "creative source" with self-determination and personal responsibility for the manifestations in your life.



Once you begin to have direct control over the events and circumstances in your life, you should then know that the tools from the Avatar© course are working.


A technique used is to "discreate." This essentially means to halt the production of a mental event; to turn it off; to cease creating it, to let go of it. It is a halt to an existing flow of energy rather than a new or opposing flow of energy. (From Avatar© Section III) "It's yours and you're creating it, and then you decide you're not going to create it anymore, and it is gone."

Students of the Avatar© program ideally should be able to move through the stages from I through V seamlessly.

Palmer's Goal


“What is the real work to be done on this planet? It’s to make ourselves more aware, to remind ourselves that our essential nature is nonviolent, and to increase the amount of compassion and cooperation on the planet."

– Harry Palmer

"My plan is simple: help the people next to you wake up beyond their Darwinic mind dream. And after they realize who they really are, where they are, and what is happening, show them how to pass the lessons on. Of course, if you want their best, full-time efforts, there are economic and social realities that need to be considered and addressed. People like to help each other, but they also like to live comfortably and feel safe with friends. So the lessons must be valuable enough to the people who receive them that they are happy to pay a fair price.

One of the things that I have learned from life is that service to others, if it is done well and within a viable economic context, is contagious. Help someone; show kindness, and the next thing you know they are figuring out how to pass it on to someone else. That’s my strategy for contributing to an enlightened planetary civilization. I intend to create, within a viable economic context, an epidemic of compassion."

Palmer to a group of graduating Avatar Masters on April 28, 1990:

"Anyone can decide that his or her beliefs are righteous. Any belief can be dressed up to look righteous. Righteous beliefs are inscribed upon parchment and in holy books. Eventually they become slogans on battle flags and are used to justify insensitive acts for which no sane individual would ever assume personal responsibility... people die violently by the thousands with righteous beliefs on all sides.


Because of this, it is better that you denounce Avatar a thousand times than use it even once as a righteous belief to justify your actions. Your job is to help people become source over their beliefs, not to persuade them to accept your beliefs. Champion no cause above personal responsibility.


When enough people are able to see that the only real difference between any of us are the ideas and beliefs that we create, there will be a spontaneous worldwide awakening to the fact that beyond our individual viewpoints, everyone on this planet shares a common destiny. We will learn to live together, or we will continue to kill together.


As Avatar Masters, remember who you are and what you are not. Remember you are not things. Remember you are not any of the ideas of sects, or nationalism, or race that humans have ignorantly fought over. You are not bodies, you are not minds, and you are not identities; you are the source of these things, and you can create better.

Together we can work to feed the hungry, protect the environment, and speak for peace—these are the efforts that buy us the time needed to expand the Avatar Network into an Enlightened Planetary Civilization. Ultimately, the solution to all human problems lies in recovering conscious control of our hearts and minds."


Beautifully spoken by the Master of Avatars.


Namaste’.
Che’

NOTE: For more information on Star Edge’s Avatar© program, go to: http://www.avatarepc.com Seven mini-courses and "Living Deliberately," can be downloaded FREE at the official Website. Next month, we'll take a look at Bahai teachings.

Personal Authenticity: "To Thine Own Self Be True"...

"To Thine Own Self Be True and it must follow as the night, the day, Thou canst not then be false to ANY man."
William Shakespeare.