FINDING THE ANSWERS

Greetings!

We all have guides, If you’re reading this you know they’re right next to you.  Since this world we live in consists mostly of space (looked at a model of an atom recently?) it should come as no surprise that what with all that space, there must be room for something. Can you have 95% of your closet or garage totally empty? Right, I thought so. I’m pretty sure the Law of Correspondence looked in my garage first before it decided it was a Law of the Universe. Just to make sure.

But it isn’t really just empty space. (we’re talking the atoms, not your garage, and certainly not mine.) Quantum physics would show you a picture of an atom that looks blank – and tell you that there’s actually nothing there but energy. Same thing with your and my world. Nothing but energy. Just some of it we don’t perceive the same way as everything else. Some of it is just outside the range of our conscious perception programming  – our patterns and templates, if you will, More about that another time.

But if we do exist with all that so called space around us, what’s there? Nothing? No Thing? Nada?

Nope, there is something there, and it’s called a MYSTERY. I’m talking about a noun here,  not the usual adjective we use to describe the unknown. A MYSTERY is an alive place! It’s a place of discovery, an adventure, and a space of enlightenment all at the same time.  We often think that a mystery is an adversary, since it is unknown, and we typically fear those things we know nothing about. We really don’t want to wait to know what it is until AFTER we’ve partaken of it. We usually want to know about it BEFORE. Would you put mystery sauce from an unmarked, unfamiliar bottle on your food at a restaurant you’ve never eaten at before? You get the idea. You might want to taste a little first, then you might slather it all over your burger, fish taco, or hummus dip. Or not. You might want to make sure what you’re getting first, then you’ll let go and allow the slathering to begin, or perhaps choose to eat it completely unslathered and never experience that unknown condiment. Or just dive in to the experience headfirst.

The times we’ve moved into are a lot like this. We want to know where we’re heading and then we’ll let go. Or let go just a little bit so we can have a taste, then decide. That’s called trying to bargain with God, Spirit, the Universe, or whatever you call that ineffable Being. Of course, the way the universe works, you have to let go FIRST and then you get to find out where you’re actually headed. It’s a little different from our experiences in man-made people school, where we have lessons and then we have tests to find out what we’ve learned. But in Life on Planet Earth, the Universe gives us the test first, and then we get the lesson. Which one is backwards? Well, neither one, actually. It’s just that we live in a world of reflections, and you know how things look backwards in a mirror -  a little less clear to read sometimes, though so often the answer is there and just takes longer to unfold.

Here’s an example I just experienced (short version). One of my hobbies is restoring a piece of audio equipment, and I’m typically thrilled with the results. Well, this time something went wrong and it didn’t work right. I was bummed because I had no idea what it was and I thought I did something wrong, despite all my efforts to be careful. Not knowing where else to turn that late night, I started asking my inner guidance for help. I kept hearing that nothing was really wrong. Heard the words, “simple, solder”, but I looked and looked and found nothing. I was disappointed, for sure. And frustrated? You bet. Finally, I let it go. Had to – the brain was overheating and starting to cook.  Soon, I thought of someone who could help. As it turned out, the “problem” was actually very simple, there was nothing I did wrong, and it was fixed in two minutes with a very quick and simple solder. My guidance was completely accurate! Not only did I get the amp fixed, but I also got to learn a few really cool things about how it works and learned to make a signal tracking tool that I could use over and again. And I got to share and relate a bit to another spirit in human form, also on a journey, who was glad to help.

None of that would have happened if my guidance had given me the direct answer I was demanding. I would have missed both the inner and the outer world experiences.

So, I think that when guides go to guide school, they have to learn to actually guide us instead of doing it for us, lest we miss the lesson. And to stay out of the way when guiding us. Probably not such an easy task. I think mine are particularly good at communicating at a frequency just on the edge of being out of range. That way I have to get quiet to hear it, and it sounds like me. In other words, I get guided without it seeming like I’m being guided. So somewhere in that 95% of the universe that’s space -  it isn’t all space. In fact, it’s a MYSTERY. And I’m having fun playing in it.

So the next time I run into a situation I recognize as a mystery, I’m planning to just smile and take it as it comes without the judgment of self or others, including my guides. (I mean, who knows? They might have a guides union. ) And if I do fall into that same trap again, I’m just going to remember how this one turned out. The keywords are …. TRUST, and PATIENCE.

Amongst other things, I’m a computer nerd (sometimes). I admit it. I just love to tinker and play with technology and to marvel at the latest toys. Windows 7 just came out and I have been joyfully (and some times not so joyfully) exploring the nuances of its creation and what this next evolution of computer operating system has to offer. Of course with it comes a few challenges to increase my understanding of how it works, and some things are just easier to accept that they do what they do.

Fortunately for me it became available as an incremental change to the XP operating system I had been using and not just a series of updates. (I refused to switch to Vista due to its reputation as problematic). That way, I was able to make the decision to switch to a new operating system and leave the other one behind. This is something we’ve all done before -  how many of us still remember how to use Windows 3.1? (OK, all you Mac snobs out there have discarded old operating systems, too.)

Now let me pause for a moment, and tell you that I think there are some important correspondences between computers and the human experience. For example, I think there is a direct relationship between the Internet and that thing that the ancients referred to as “The Ethers.” All the information you could possibly want is in both places at your fingertips. You just have to know how to perform a search and to ask the right questions. There are many other correspondences, too, if you think about it.

OK, now back to operating systems. We’re evolving on this planet, and so too is the planet evolving. Many people already seem to be aware of this, they just don’t know what the result will be. You can see it in the children, too. They’re growing up faster and more sophisticated than we were, and the speed is increasing over what we experienced at their age. Though of course, some things are quite similar and familiar.

But I digress, maybe.

Maybe – just maybe, we could look at the shifts we’re going through as that series of updates to our own internal (and collective) operating systems. Since the next phase isn’t yet quite in focus enough for us to recognize with the training our senses have had since birth (our old operating system), it gets a little more challenging to know what to let go of and what to retain. In some ways that makes it both easier and more challenging. For some people it’s less challenging to simply abandon the old operating system to something totally new. For other folks, the gradual approach is less of a jolt. Still others would like a combination of both -  as in, wake me up when the (r)evolution is over.

One thing about Life on Planet Earth we know is that there are so many different ways to experience it. And yes, we all chose these different experiences. Since our awareness is continually being updated we don’t always want to admit that what we now recognize as ourselves actually made those choices long ago that set us up in the life we have now. But we did. And we did choose to be here to witness, experience, and ground this energy of evolution into the planet.

Unfortunately (or not) this next evolution doesn’t come in a nice shrink-wrapped box with amazing graphics on the outside (although maybe it does, and we just can’t recognize it yet). One thing about change is that it sure looks different when you’re in the middle of it than it does either before or afterwards. But knowing that this evolution is occurring might make it easier to recognize that when the old apps aren’t working, that there are new apps to attend to. Not knowing for sure means that we can be open to the endless possibilities. I think it’s Nature’s way of keeping us from bargaining with our destinies, though we may try.

What we all want is to know what’s going to happen, and if we can accept it then we will let go and let it happen. Nature doesn’t work this way, however. The seed has no consciousness of the tree it will become. It only knows that it must grow. The plans for it to become a tree are already deeply encoded into it, such embedded core concepts that are enacted without question. The seed doesn’t argue that it would rather be a plant or a flower or a vegetable. It just unfolds naturally.

So back to the computer model. Perhaps it is that our new operating system is already in place, already deeply encoded and is just in the stages of automatically installing and initializing. Maybe we don’t have to wait for the “Welcome” screen to appear to know we have been updated. And we’ll likely continue to be in  a process of updating.

At the end of the day we all come to grips with what we have accomplished that day. If it isn’t all congruent with our estimation of ourselves, we have to find a place to put it. Much of that we do automatically, according to our previous programming. Part of the work we do on the spiritual path is about re-coding our programming according to the amount of light we have been able to become aware of in ourselves and others. The more light you can embody, the more easily you can transform lower frequencies. Some of this is done consciously and through intent, and some of it just happens because that’s the way it was encoded, the same way a seed is planted in darkness and returns to the light. But the more consciously we can embody the light, the more powerful is the process.

This is what redemption is really about -  moving toward the light with conscious intent. There is no judgment on where that started, stopped, or paused at the end of the day or the end of the next moment. It is a process of continual updating, of continual becoming.

And here we are in December. Known as the dark time of year because the hours of sunlight each day are decreasing until the Winter Solstice.  At the solstice we celebrate the return to light in some form in most civilizations around the globe, and shortly thereafter those in the western world’s concept of time celebrate a new year.

We are rebooting.

What we need to do in these times

Isn’t that what everyone wants to know? What do we do in order to survive these complicated times. Economic Downturns, Earth Changes, Pandemics, Surely there must be some way through it all, if only we knew what to do.

There’s really nothing to do. Nothing you can do will help. There. Don’t those words of wisdom make you feel better? They don’t? Ok, then try this one on: Some great higher power will sweep you up in their arms and carry you off to a land where everything is wonderful and there are no problems ever. Like that one better? That way, the only thing there is to do is to believe harder. We can do that. It won’t work, but we can do that.

Nope, we’re in a time where we are beginning to discover what we don’t know. Usually we’re just working on what we already do know. Just remembering it again. But if we’re truly evolving, then we’re going to grow in ways we never thought we could. Some of that will be challenging. Some of it will be easy. And some people will just want to take the elevator. That’s what I call believing in being rescued. If you believe you’re going to be rescued it takes away from your ability to make choices and respond in real time. Otherwise you’d be invoking an executable program learned years ago. In other words, if you think you’re going to be rescued, you’re still a victim.

What do we do now? Ah….isn’t it challenging to stop thinking that way? OK, well here’s a step in that direction, for all the turtles out there.

The doing doesn’t come first. The ‘being” does. That is, the state of being. When you encounter someone successful, or someone wealthy (and these are each continuums in and of themselves), you want to know how they did it. And their answers usually don’t tell you anything or work for you. Because the being came first, not the doing. Search the internet and you will find hundreds of programs out there to help you get rich, lose weight, fall in love, or achieve something by buying a guide book -  THEIR guidebook, for which you will have to sacrifice only a little of your gold (plus shipping and handling). What they’re not telling you is that if everyone sends them a little gold, then they will have a lotta gold. Since you only sent them a little, then they will give you a little bit of lesson. Of course, if you want more then you have to pay more.

Just pay more and they’ll tell you that one thing that you’re not doing, and then everything will be fine. Naturally, that’s why people who buy these books and cds still have them on their shelves. Still haven’t gotten that one thing straight yet. Ah, maybe after that next workshop, program, or book. Yeah, that’ll do it.

But, for just a moment, think about how we create something. We find something we like or want, get an image of it, and hold that image in our desire body until we get it or not. If we don’t get it then we have other choices to make.

But we know that the greatest energy wins. And the cosmic laws of creation – the laws of cause and effect – are always in full force and effect.

So that means we’re always getting what we asked for. Obviously, based on results, this must be true. We just don’t like to hear that, because we think we did something wrong, and that would diminish us. But most often we did no such thing, we just didn’t see the scenario for what actually occurred. More about that on another blog.

Life on Planet Earth is an art form. Always has been, especially if you want to enjoy it in all its fullness. Hey, no one ever asked Van Gogh to paint another “Starry Night.” And he wouldn’t have even if you stood on your head and held your breath until you turned blue (though that might work for some people. No one’s ever tried it with me yet so I don’t know how I would respond). He didn’t work by formula. No one ever found any paint-by –number charts on the back of his paintings. He moved forward, always. How art historians classify that is their creation, not any of the artists. They’re too busy creating. Bob Dylan once said that an artist should always be in the state of becoming. Life can be led that way, too. We’re all artists in some way or another. Don’t you think? Do you think? Ya Think? So be it.

Michael

Greetings once again!

And thanks for stopping by at the bloggery. Today’s blog (said in my best Kermit the Frog) is all about duality.

You see, the world is composed of two different kinds of people: Those that divide the world into two different kinds of people, and those that do not. There you have it. End of story. But then there would have to be a beginning somewhere as well as an end.

There’s no accident that computer code is all binary, that is, it consists of patterns of zeros and ones. 0’s and 1’s. On or off. That’s called digital. It’s also dual. As is night/day, male/female, hard/soft, yin/yang, curved/straight, linear/nonlinear—the list is endless.

There’s also in and out, especially within and without. And that’s also where a great deal of the illusion of Life on Planet Earth resides.

Ancient Kabalistic texts tell a story of creation, where the Supreme Being makes a choice, and pulls it’s energy back and creates two out of the space filled with only one; also called the Big Bang by scientists. But the duality came from making the choice. Everything created after that was necessarily dualistic since it all resulted from that shift. I AM became WE ARE. And of course, since the I AM is always contained within the WE ARE, it’s always the path home.

So back to within and without. LPE (Life on Planet Earth) is getting more and more interesting these days, have you noticed? More people seem to be getting moved around, rearranged & relocated, whether it’s job, relationship, or some other place on the time-space continuum.

The response to those changes is a process we often call growth.

And on top of that many people are experiencing an inward shift, meaning they’re getting more real about interpreting what they’re experiencing. This is also called growth.

Whether you’re having a good time with this or not depends on the choices you make and whether you are willing to see and accept that the outer world is reflecting your inner world. And it’s not a punishment or a reward. It just is.

The illusion is that there is separation between your inner and outer world. There isn’t. None. Zip. Nada. The perception of separation dilutes the ability to perceive the duality of cause and effect. In other words, we don’t often see that it’s our state of being that creates the outer world.

It’s really just a game, the same game the Supreme Being (call him/her whatever) played in creating this duality. So we’re all playing that same game and we make a choice to perceive it one way or another. In fact, the choice to perceive differently is one reason the universe is expanding.

How we choose to perceive it also makes it real or not, placing it somewhere along that continuum. And that highlights it. Vests more energy into it, makes it stand out more in our world of individualized perception. We place our attention on it and it becomes more.

It’s a great skill and sometimes a neat trick to be able to experience LPE and take the good out of what appears to be bad. It’s not about it being a silver lining so much as it is about how you choose to orient your consciousness in that moment. And why not – after all, we created this game, didn’t we?

So let’s see now… we’re playing the same game as God, and the universe is being created because of it. You don’t suppose that means something, do you?

Michael

Greetings!

Welcome to the first of many more editions of my blog, or my glob if you’re a bit on the dyslexic side.

Got Intuition? Of course you do. You were born with it, and probably would never have survived to adulthood (or wherever-hood you are) without it.

You’re of the earth, and the earth is where all intuition is based. In fact, indigenous peoples often appear cool to us because they’re keenly attuned to the planet, and that triggers the part of us that knows who we are. There’s a reason why grounding (also called ‘earthing’) works and it’s all about plugging in.

But what are we plugging into? There’s an unknown there, isn’t it?

Actually not. The unknown is really just a place where we’ve separated from our sense of self, that’s all. And in that separation is where the fears of the unknown are born. But let’s say that you didn’t go to that place of separation, that you stayed grounded and unified. Wouldn’t your world be vastly different?

That part of you that speaks to you in this sudden moment knows something. But that knowledge isn’t stored in your head—it’s stored in your body, because intuition is a body experience. It’s really about knowing rather than knowledge. Knowing is alive, knowledge isn’t.

Intuition. Everyone has it, everyone was born with it, no one is lacking any of it. Thing is, from the time you first went off to pre-school (in whatever form that took), you began to exercise the left side of your brain. That was a good thing, because you needed to learn stuff in order to grow and participate in your culture.  And most societies stop there, schooling pretty much exclusively through the left brain. When the budget gets crunched, the first thing that gets cut is the arts program, if you can still remember having one.

We’ve become so left brain-oriented, so concerned with data that we even have a new god in the last 20 years known as the personal computer. The ultimate data-cruncher. So powerful that it’s become the model for people rather than the other way around. It’s really an amazing tool that has given us an increasing amount of altitude on what’s going on in our world, especially when connected to the internet. More about the net another time.

Ever go to the beach or to the gym and see someone who obviously works out regularly, has an incredible upper body but skinny legs? Or great arms, but that’s all?

Well, that’s an analogy for what we look like from one energetic view when we’ve exercised the left brain only and have allowed the right side to atrophy. A similar analogy exists also for those who live only in a right brained world, but due to our societal constructs we have far more of the left-brainers than the right-brainers. Neither is quite fully balanced.

Interestingly enough, the evolution of mankind and the planet has provided us with our own spiritual gymnasium for flexing those intuitive muscles. It’s really always been here, but in our typical western culture we just haven’t really paid a whole lot of attention to it. Not our fault. We’ve just not been socialized to do so.

What it takes is –just for a moment – a suspension of disbelief. Which you could say is also an enabling of a different belief. Just for a moment. Try that with something you’ve always taken for granted, like gravity. Or being poor. Or powerless. Or stuck. Just for a moment, imagine what it would be like if ONLY the opposite were true. Entertain it, live in that for just a moment as fully as you can. Make it real. Vivify it. Feel it. Just for a moment in time. Go ahead – I’ll wait.

(Gee, I’m so accommodating)

OK, so that was interesting. Even if that moment is already fading, if you went there, you made it real, even if just for a moment. And you just expanded your world, at least in that moment, however briefly.

That was flexing. Keep doing that. With everything! Every chance you get.

Now that wasn’t hard to do, was it?

Michael