•by Dawn King•Confusion is rife on our planet today. Realize that this too shall pass, and all human conflicts will end over time. Meanwhile, you are expanding your awareness of how to be part of the solution of rebuilding society and the planet…starting today.
Why me? Embrace the idea that “I chose to be here now, and chose my life experiences because they serve me. They help me grow stronger in spirit.” The law of attraction (your thought) is powerful; you will continue to attract what you need. Think positive and you will attract positive experiences.
1. Affirm: “Today is the first day of the rest of my life, and I’m making it a purposeful life.”
2. Feel safe in your own space, your own spirit. Yours is the power to create your life as you will it. Your spirit is in a place separate from fear. Your thoughts and actions can operate from that same centered place. If needed, physically move yourself into a place that feels safe, while asking for, receiving, and knowing spiritual help is guiding you. It will FEEL right.
3. Grounding is needed while we live in these physical bodies. Plant a garden. Create or take a job that serves humanity and the Earth. Be practical in your decisions to act. Idealism can lead us into rash actions we later regret.
4. Be a loving person. Our task today is to move our center of consciousness into our hearts. Be kind; love yourself for acting in a way that will make you a better person. Your spirit is perfect; it is the offspring of a loving Creator. Identify with your perfect spirit; it is eternal—going on after this physical life is past.
We are spiritual beings in physical bodies, trying to cope with the drama unfolding around us. Take the time to tune out the drama of the world, and tune into your spirit.
Learning to control our thinking is vital to living a productive and happy life. Meditation and self-reflection is helpful in this process. Use affirmations: “I am choosing to let all conflict go; I am choosing to be at peace.”
“I am grounded.” Visualize your roots of support and strength extending into Gaia, our Mother Earth. Your energy field naturally extends around you in all directions, including going into the Earth. Spend as much time as you can in Nature. Absorb its energy and teachings.
Like a little child, when you live from the heart you have no fear, and others cannot control you. Your effort to be your best is always good enough. And like a little child, you need not judge others. Embrace those who feel like your own, and let loose of those who do not. Wish everyone well, but keep your distance from those people and things which don’t uplift your spirit.
You are valued by the Earth and the Universe. You are loved by those beyond this dimension, and by your Mother-Father Creator. Keep yourself mindfully in that positive light. Open your heart and mind to all the light and love that is available to help and nurture you. You are never alone.
•Norman Paulsen, Sunburst Founder• NASA Photo “Hand of God” • What a fantastic thing it is, this Divine Consciousness which is within and around all of us. It is here within you right now, as much as it ever will be. Think of what life would be if everyone was fully aware of I Am That I Am within themselves.
Yes, then the gods would walk the Earth again. Everything human created would be of divine design: the arts, the sciences, structures. One can hardly imagine what our world would be like with all children of God in total possession of Christ consciousness.
Why do we meditate? Meditation leads us within, to discover our true relationship with our Creator, and all life forms. We learn to be caretakers of all the images that I Am That I Am has created.
Meditate to gain your own freedom, and to help the cause of freedom for everyone. Meditate to possess immortality and know it possess you. The answer to every question is within you. It is investigated in solitude, deep prayer and meditation, and with desire and love for God, our Divine Father and Mother.
The nature of the universe is love—unconditional, unending. We think we lose loved ones; that’s an illusion. We find them again the the future. This life was all wrought not that you suffer, but that you joyfully exist in it; to realize how wonderful, how thrilling it is to be in your body, this great atomic structure produced by light and consciousness.
Yes, who created us? Who sustains us? Who keeps all those electrons in obedient orbit? I Am That I Am does! It is dreaming, through our self-conscious minds, that it is you and me and everyone else—each of us unique. But when it wakes up into Christ consciousness, it knows who it really is.
This Divine Consciousness knows it created each of our bodies and everything we see. With each step you take upon the Earth, it feels the vibrational ring and connections with all the atoms therein. You put forth your hand to pick the fruit of a tree, to taste the nectar the sweetness—I Am That I Am is there within you.
Yes, the senses of taste, touch, sight, and hearing are raised to another level when you experience them with the Divine. Hear the wind moving through the trees; see the blue sky and feel the warm sun; realize the miracle of this world floating in infinity…with no end out there that you can behold at this moment.
Who created all of this? That which is inner-dimensionally right within you today! You need to and can know our Creator face to face! That is why we pray and meditate, to know, to speak with, and to enjoy the creation with our Creator every day.
•by Dawn King• photo by April Juels •Today, I found myself reflecting on the music gathering we had last Saturday at Sunburst. People came from near and far corners of California to play and listen to impromptu performances. Mostly the instruments were windblown—Native American style and other flutes, including a didgeridoo, with drums and hand-held percussion. Some years we have participants from out-of-state. This annual event is always well attended, and very enjoyable; some of the musicians are world-class professionals.
What I reflected on this morning was finding myself thinking, “I wish this moment would never end.” Right then, my husband was playing a Native American style flute while a friend was playing a Japanese bamboo flute (shakuhachi). It was such a beautiful moment of harmony, and breath. Every onlooker was rapt with enjoyment. The consciousness of the whole room was raised to a high vibration. It felt as though we were all beyond any thoughts, simply suspended in the exquisite beauty, peace, and perfect harmony. We were in a moment of Heaven on Earth—everything was perfect.
It is my good fortune to have had a number of these Heaven-on-Earth moments, times when I’ve wished the moment would never end. Today I realized that this euphoric feeling is the enjoyment of being in a state of illumination, or Christ consciousness. One’s higher senses, and deeper heart’s love are experienced so intensely, with so much joy. These are moments in which we may find ourself moved to tears—tears of joy.
My greater realization today is that this transcendent experience is available to us EVERY moment. We only need to see/hear/feel the perfection of every moment of life. Through the eyes of the Divine Creator, ALL is perfect. And no moment in time is ever lost from the memory of the Creator.
Our challenge today is to be fully here NOW. The NOW is all that exists, and in the NOW, as you read this, you are FINE. How many moments we have in which we are fine, secure, needing nothing more than to breathe! The more we consciously realize this, the more of these “perfect” moments we will have. We were not created to suffer, but created to enjoy living. We have to allow ourselves to hold that thought, and find the Good, the Beauty, the Love that is available to us. We need only embrace and nurture that which brings joy to our hearts.
The Earth is freeing itself from the negativity which has inadvertently polluted its aura. There may be increasing fires, floods, earthquakes, etc. as this cleansing takes place. Be assured that this is only increasing a pull to Spirit within humankind, like no other time.
Fear comes from thinking we are alone, or not good enough. We are never alone, and we are made in the perfect image of our Creator. All we need do is ask Divine Spirit for help, and it will come. Sometimes it comes from our own realization of the next steps we need to take. We are to empower ourselves by realizing our oneness with the Divine, and offering our gifts to others, to Nature, to the Earth. It starts with our own consciousness, NOW.
Postscript•Before posting this blog, I shared it with a friend who is a long time Zen Buddhist. He commented: I like what you said in your blog article. The only reality is the present moment. The Divine is always with us. In Buddhism, everything comes from the same source, yet everything is always arising and disappearing.
• by Sharon Ray • You will often find that people who care about their health have a strong spiritual life. Loving God and loving life go hand in hand with loving and caring for the body temple that one lives in. Building and maintaining good health is a way to honor the gift of life we have been given. When we are full of energy and vitality, it is easy to be joyful, and it is a sign that we have a strong nervous system.
Our bodies are like light bulbs and the nerves are the pathways upon which energy travels. To feel vital and alive we have to have pathways in good repair and lots of energy traveling along them.
One thing we can do to increase our energy and sense of wellbeing is to be sure we are oxygenating our blood through diaphragmatic breathing. This way of breathing is different from chest breathing in which the rib cage rises in response to our inhales. With diaphragmatic breathing, which is deeper, the abdomen rises and falls with each breath. The oxygen goes deep into our lower lungs, not just into the upper part.
Oxygen fuels all the processes in the body and makes them strong and vibrant. Oxygen helps keep the nervous system strong. Studies have shown that our breathing is directly connected to our emotions and sense of wellbeing.
Shallow breathing is associated with the sympathetic nervous system and can lead to feelings of stress and anxiety. Holding your breath may happen unconsciously when you are very focused, thinking deeply, or repeating negative thought cycles.
Deep breathing stimulates the vagus nerve, activating the parasympathetic nervous system; this promotes relaxation, reducing stress and anxiety. We can practice diaphragmatic breathing by lying on our backs, hands on our lower abdomens, consciously breathing in through the nostrils, sending the air into the lower abdomen.
Feel the abdomen rise. Exhale and feel the abdomen deflate. After a week, begin this practice sitting up. After another week, do it standing, then walking. It will soon become your natural way of breathing. When you catch yourself chest breathing start moving the breath into the abdomen.
Let’s visualize our body as comprised of sparkling, happy cells. In the name of Joy, and of Loving Life, let’s embrace deep breathing!
Paramahansa Yogananda offers this affirmation: “Every cell of my body is filled with light and life. I am radiating vibrant health, peace, and joy through every cell of my body”
A person can fail many times, but they are not a failure until they begin to blame somebody else.
•Excerpt from Thich Nhat Hanh•When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce.
Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument.
That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.
•More Notes on Blame and Success in Life•
When there is a problem, the best approach is to figure out the root cause. There can be a tendency to place blame, especially on others. Embracing accountability and responsibility helps us realize how we can do better as individuals, and as a group.
This requires an inner and outer environment in which it’s okay to accept responsibility; it’s okay to acknowledge you’ve made a mistake if you have. Then we need to move on in our thinking. Often the root cause of a problem is simply miscommunication, misunderstanding, or lack of information.
Introspection is vital for spiritual growth. It is helpful for group endeavors as well—periodical review of how well we’re doing.
Personal introspection and Self-affirmation helps us grow up as individuals—to assess our progress on meeting our goals in life, and on being who we want to be. Likewise a group with a common vision (be it a family or a company) with self-organizing teams and good infrastructure, makes forward progress and detects problems quickly. And this is a perfect environment for individuals to feel like they are contributing.
The blame game is not for us. Being motivated by a heart of love and kindness benefits us all.
February 3 saw a celebration of the birthday of Sunburst Founder, Norman Paulsen. Following is an excerpt from his book, Life Love God, which begins with a description of his birth.
We are descending. Beneath us lie the waters and the land. This sphere, a celestial garden floating in space, is unmatched in beauty. Where the winds and waters meet the rising of the land, a jagged point appears. Tall cliffs and rocks challenge the heaving, bright blue waters. Above us the radiant body of Father Sun watches in silence as Mother Earth performs her daily revolutions. My life and love flows outward and downward to mingle with visions of crashing waves and torrents of spray. Rainbow images dance in clouds of mist, slowly settling upon glistening monoliths of stone. I encompass all that I feel and observe, moving on toward the east.
Rolling hills and bright green meadows now confront me. Scrub oak, sycamore, and willow, with boughs long bent to the ever-present wind, struggle with their loads. Point Conception, long known to native peoples as the western gateway to the spirit world, contains an ancient necropolis. The western gateway, graveyard for earthbound ships, thrusts forth their stricken bows, caught in its awesome beauty. It’s the point where winds and currents meet and ancient spirits move, fog-shrouded at times; mysterious—and deadly to mariners.
Beyond the coast and over the hills, a fertile valley nestles. Open fields present rich, dark sod to Father Sun’s embrace. A river moves snake-like through the flat and furrowed fields to join the sea at Surf. Sycamore and willow along its banks reach up to gather light from the abundant heavens. This land, this fertile valley, was once the home and refuge of an ancient native people. New owners have now built up a town, thrusting up steeples proud against the sky. We have arrived!
There, up from the river, cradled against the faithful hills, lies the village. White houses with green and red roofs spread out a varicolored carpet. I move closer to see white picket fences covered with honeysuckle and rose. Horses pull wagons on dusty streets, wetted down each eventide. People with faces, each one different, are walking, riding, working. The heavy ring of hammer striking anvil fills the air; horses start in their traces. I stop to watch the spiral motion of coal smoke, its pungent odor heavy on the fresh sea breeze. Across the way, children run and play on a vacant lot.
Impelled by silent motion, I come upon a street running north and south. The house I am looking for faces the rising sun. A picket fence, an open gate, greet me. Green lawns spread out their velvet surface beneath two tall palm trees. Yes, this is indeed the dwelling place of the blind Buddha, my father-to-be.
The blind man walked with a white cane, feeling the earth beneath as he moved. He was stalwart and precise. Deprived of earthly vision, his hearing was acutely extended. He heard the message of the whispering wind and the babbling brook as he extended his life outward into all beings and images around him.
He found me standing there on the street in the midst of his life. My spirit-image flashed before his inner vision; I had startled him. He stopped walking to stand alert in a silent greeting. Time stood still for him. “You have finally come to help me, to be my eyes in this world. I am so very sad and lonely here. No one understands me, no one. My wife tries, but finds me too withdrawn in the Spirit.”
“Long have we been friends,” I replied, “and again we meet. My spirit is fixed upon rebirth here. Our lives must be joined together for a time.” We moved on down the street, floating in a cloud of joy.
