Finding the Higher Purpose of Your Business

The road to success is always under construction: Manoj Vasanth via Flickr

By Mary C. Davis

I remember both the subtle whisperings of my soul and the more jolting cosmic two by fours over the head, metaphysically speaking, that initiated my process of awakening to my life’s purpose. And while this process continues (generally, in a more gentle way), I revel in the profound mystery of its unfoldment and am grateful that it has led me to this moment in time.

You and I have reached an exciting juncture in our collective evolution where fully realizing the purpose of our human experience is a distinct possibility. As we embrace this possibility, we have been guided to do work (both inner and outer) that forwards the process of our own awakening and helps others awaken – healing or wellness work. And while the healing arts or wellness professions cover a breadth of different modalities, their collective purpose is the same: to awaken us to our intrinsic wholeness, the purpose of each individual life.

Your Life’s Purpose and Your Business

In Eckhart Tolle’s book, A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, he defines awakening as the process of consciousness shifting to a state where thinking and awareness separate. He says that your inner purpose, which concerns being, is to awaken and this is primary. Your outer purpose, which concerns doing, is secondary.

These key concepts underpin inspired business planning and relate directly to the first step of the process, which is to discern the higher purpose of your business. If you’re not focussed primarily on your inner purpose (to awaken), then you will not be connected to the higher purpose of your business. And, consequently, your outer purpose (your business) will be out of alignment with your inner purpose. In other words, you will operate your business from the consciousness of your ego (your conditioned, limited mind), rather than the consciousness of your awakening self.

Discerning the Higher Purpose of Your Business

“Finding and living in alignment with the inner purpose is the foundation for fulfilling your outer purpose. It is the basis for true success.”

- Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose

As you continue to focus on your inner purpose, the higher purpose of your business will become clearer and more rooted in your consciousness. You will experience and facilitate awakening through your work.

While this is the broader, higher purpose of your business, you may also start to discern aspects that are more specific. You may feel called to facilitate awakening through a particular life area and/or with a particular group of people. For example, as I’ve focused on my inner purpose, I’ve discerned that the specific, higher purpose of my business is to model and facilitate awakening with healers/wellness professionals through money and all forms of prosperity, as expressed primarily through business.

Your business’s higher purpose may not include such specific aspects right now or they may emerge, change or diversify over time. Also, you may feel that you already have much clarity and connection with your business’s higher purpose. Nevertheless, to deepen this connection and invite further clarity, consider asking yourself these questions and journaling your responses:

- What do I think is the primary purpose of my life?

- How does my life purpose relate to the higher purpose of my business?

- How would I describe the higher purpose of my business?

- What specific life areas relate to the higher purpose of my business?

- What specific groups of people relate to the higher purpose of my business?

Discerning and deepening your connection with your business’s higher purpose is the first, ongoing step of the inspired business planning process, and it will fortify all subsequent steps. As you focus on fulfilling this purpose, immense spiritual power will infuse your business, uniting your intentions and objectives with the evolutionary impulse of universal consciousness.

Copyright 2008 Mary C. Davis

Article Source: Articles Engine

Entrepreneur, Coach and Prosperity Guide Mary C. Davis helps spiritually-oriented wellness professionals build prosperous, fulfilling businesses. Get tips on how to build your wellness business, with ease and joy, by subscribing to her FREE e-zine, The Prosperous Healer, at http://www.anamturas.com

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Why does God allow us to suffer?

Hebomoea glaucippe caterpillar, India (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Author: kiran

There is a story of a boy who had a good heart. Once this boy saw a caterpillar in his garden. He began to carefully observe it. He found that the caterpillar was in a difficult situation. It was bound by a cocoon and was struggling to release itself from this cocoon. It strove very hard to come out of it. But try as it may, it was not able tocome out of it even by a centimeter. But it never gave up its efforts. It tried and tried.

This boy was moved by the effort of the caterpillar and, having a heart filled with compassion, decided to help the caterpillar in its suffering. He ran inside his house and got a pair of scissors and slowly and carefully cut the cocoon of the caterpillar and released it.

What did he see when he cut the cocoon? He saw that the caterpillar was actually developing wings to become a butterfly. And because he had cut the cocoon before time, the wings of the caterpillar were very weak. They did not have the strength to handle the weight of the caterpillar and so the caterpillar could not fly.

Similarly, sometimes when we struggle in our lives, it may seem painful to someone who is watching. But those very struggles actually make us strong and powerful. Many people ask, ‘Why does God allow us to suffer?’ We can learn from this boy; if he had allowed the caterpillar to suffer a little more, then it would have soared to the sky, flown from one flower to another and been appreciated by the world for its colors and beauty.

It really doesn’t matter whether things go our way, what really matters is our integrity and our sincerity. A great person is one who maintains integrity and enthusiasm whether or not he/she gets what he/she wants.

It’s one thing to not get what we want. But it’s harder when we get the exact opposite of what we want. Even in that case we should thank God and just go on. That’s what gives us inner substance and strength. Even an athlete gets strong through the process of resistance. Yes, if you want to actually gain strength, the more the resistance, the more you can gain. When you lift weights, you are resisting the laws of gravity. The weight is pushing down and you are pushing up and then you become strong while dealing with the resistance. If you say, ‘It’s too heavy, just forget it. I will lie down, eat potato chips and watch television,’ you will never become strong. Similarly, study is all about resistance. The mind wants to think about the girl next to you or something like that, but you have to just resist. ‘I have to just resist and focus on this mathematical equation.’ That’s how you become intelligent, through resistance. So in spiritual life there is much resistance coming from both within and without, and through that we become powerful. We become empowered to the degree we are willing to face that resistance and grow with it.

- Radhanath Swami

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/why-does-god-allow-us-to-suffer-5843833.html

About the Author

At the age of 19, in 1970, Radhanath Swami started his journey of spiritual quest. After meeting several people and studying various paths of spiritual enlightenment along the way, he finally reached India. Radhanath Swami’s experiences through the journey enabled him to understand the truth from all cultural perspectives. The deep realizations that he gained in the process reflect in his teachings today.

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Wake up! The social construction of sleep

Sleeping by soylentgreen23 via Flickr

If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying.
It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.

—Dale Carnegie

It’s 2:42 a.m. Two cats howling outside my window woke me up. Unable to get back to sleep, it seemed like a good time to reflect on some of the cultural assumptions that modern, technological societies have about the idea of “a good night sleep.” ¹

Don’t get me wrong. I’m the first to agree that sleep is a great restorative. The ancient Greeks extolled it as a sacred salve that releases mankind from the pain and worry of daytime reality. And the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, spoke favorably of dreams as the “royal road to the unconscious.”

Freud’s brightest student, Carl G. Jung, was also interested in dreams. Jung felt that our nighttime productions compensate for what we’re missing in daytime. Jungians also maintain that dreams guide us toward a greater, integrated sense of meaning.

Sleep Deprivation

In a National Geographic article a Harvard neuroscientist claims that US society is “tremendously sleep deprived.” If we don’t sleep well during the night, it’s usually recommended to try to nap, rest or meditate sometime during the day.

The controversial mystic Sri Aurobindo had a completely different view about sleep, one not supported by contemporary medical science. Aurobindo saw sleep as a sluggish, inferior form of consciousness that’s best overcome through intense meditation. In fact, Aurobindo claimed to have conquered the need for sleep. Christian monks also get less sleep than the average layperson but, arguably, for different reasons than Aurobindo’s.

Medical science tells us that sleep is important. The body synthesizes proteins faster in the retina and cerebral cortex during sleep hours, enhancing growth and restoration.² Sleep deprivation actually impairs cerebral cortex functioning, this being the newest part of the brain to appear over the course of human evolution.

Sleep deprivation also has harmful effects on memory and contributes to anxiety and even paranoia. Keeping people sleepy is a great way to brainwash, manipulate or indoctrinate. No wonder cult leaders and political interrogators use sleep deprivation to get subjects to comply with their wishes (at the risk of offending some, one could argue that a similar dynamic exists in some monasteries).

Snake Oils

insomnia by Jonathan Jacobsen via Flickr

Over the counter sleep medications tend to have deleterious side effects and don’t really engender sound sleep. No wonder so many online marketers are peddling the latest sleep-inducing herbs and alleged wonder-drugs.

Clearly, this is a case of buyer beware. Scam artists more interested in profit than helping people often have a crafty sales pitch, one which postmodern deconstructionists would have a field day with.

For instance, if you don’t get your eight hours every night some of these unscrupulous marketers will declare that you’re suffering from an illness.³ You’re then informed that substance X (which they happen to sell at their website) is the just thing for you. This idea is then backed up or, I should say, apparently backed up, by quasi-scientific truth claims. Your wonder-drug may be an extract, a herb or perhaps some other expensive snake oil—all to make you healthier, happier and a more productive member of society.⁴

Admittedly, this is an extreme scenario, one facilitated by cheesy internet and TV ads. There is solid scientific support for the responsible use of some herbs and extracts. Healing with herbs is also advocated in the Old Testament (Sirach 38: 1-15).

However, a recent CBC Marketplace documentary notes that we normally don’t know the long-term side effects of many herbs. It’s also good to remember that the phrase ‘side effects’ is a medical and pharmacological euphemism for unhealthy effects.

To take herbs and oils on the reassuring word of a total stranger seems unwise. Hopefully herb and wonder-drug companies will soon be integrated with reliable health officials to prevent the possibility of harmful side effects. A definite step in the right direction seems to be the Adverse Drug Reaction Database.

Allopathic sleep medications may also have unhealthy side effects and are often addictive. But sometimes their use can be more positive than negative, providing they’re taken responsibly and with professional supervision.

A red flag should go up, however, whenever anyone tries to make a religion out of any kind of treatment. Both allopathic and homeopathic practitioners can cling to their respective paradigms while closing their minds to new possibilities.

New Age Fancies

An artist's rendition of Neanderthals via Wikipedia

Some New Age figures like Deepak Chopra say the electric lights and general hubbub of modern society have disrupted our natural biorhythms, often called the Circadian rhythm. These pundits of the soul lament that we’ve severed some kind of sacred connection with the natural environment and with our distant ancestors.

This calls to mind romantic myths of the natural man, or as some put it, the noble savage. But who can really say what’s natural and what’s not?⁵

Anthropological research suggests that Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals weren’t so different from contemporary mankind. Our distant friends probably awoke in the dead of night just as we do in the 21st century. Instead of worrying about money or health, our ancestors — if that’s what they were — probably suffered anxiety over hunger, hostile animals, ambushes, storms and seasonal weather changes.⁶ Indeed, a BBC article about Neanderthal violence indicates that life in prehistoric times was anything but idyllic.

So to say that primitives lived in some kind of stress-free, golden age replete with tranquil nights seems more like fanciful fiction than reality.

Transpersonal Connections

As to why we awake in the night, this is often attributed to personal stress or some kind of medical disorder. But in some cases, perhaps many, sleep disturbances could be caused by transpersonal connections.

By transpersonal I mean essentially spiritual connections among souls. Not everyone believes in this idea. But almost all saints and mystics do. (Mind you, Buddhists don’t really believe in souls, but they do believe in spiritual attributes that can migrate from one being to another).

One great figure who definitely believes in an individual soul is the Catholic saint, Faustina Kowalska. And her Divine Mercy Diary, makes frequent mention of transpersonal connections.

For instance, Saint Kowalska writes that she once awoke in the middle of the night in response to a distressed soul in need of prayerful intercession.

During the night, I was suddenly awakened and knew that some soul was asking me for prayer, and that it was in much need of prayer. Briefly, but with all my soul, I asked the Lord for grace for her.⁷

Like a lightning rod for other people’s anxiety, Faustina rarely got a solid eight hours sleep.

Polski: Fotografia św. Faustyny Kowalskiej via Wikipedia

For some, this kind of scenario is hard to understand. Perhaps one could imagine an intern who’s always on call. There’s a 3 a.m. emergency and the intern is awakened by her pager. And so it is, one could say, with the spiritual work of the sensitive soul or contemplative saint—but unlike the medical doctor, the saint doesn’t need a pager to sense what’s going on.

Again, most people just can’t imagine, let alone appreciate, this kind of dynamic. It’s far too subtle for the average person, mired in conventional wisdom and their historically informed conception of the universe and beyond.

For many, saints like Sister Faustina would appear to be an oddball, flake or, perhaps, mentally ill. And the tormented souls for whom she intercedes are just figments of her imagination or, worse, pathological hallucinations.

Sadly, this kind of materialist bias has crept into some corners of the contemporary Catholic Church, a place where a bona fide mystic like St. Faustina could, at one time, be recognized for what God called her to be—namely, a contemplative saint.⁸

Of course, most people aren’t called to be contemplative saints and must hold down 9 to 5 jobs to maintain a desired standard of living and to provide for their families. These folks are obviously necessary to society and it’s probably in their best interest to do everything possible to maintain a predictable nighttime sleep pattern. But let’s not suppose that this is a natural way for everyone. There are always important exceptions to the rule.

Sometimes these exceptions are built-in to an entire culture. Consider, for instance, India or South America. In these cultures a daytime nap is a normal and expected part of living. During the afternoon stores close, windows are shuttered and most everybody sleeps.

In the Western world, geniuses like Mozart, Winston Churchill, Elvis Presley and James Joyce took advantage of late night hours. Likewise, Jesus Christ, arguably the best man of all, stayed up to pray through the night.

It’s hard to imagine what kind of world we’d have if these outstanding individuals hadn’t surpassed cultural conventions and expectations. By the same token, not everyone is a born artist, politician or spiritual leader. And it seems only a relative few can stand aside and see beyond their immediate society. Indeed, getting a solid eight hours sleep can be quite pleasant. It’s reassuring to “fit in” with the real or imagined status quo, as most of us did in childhood.

But when childhood’s over, we must consider alternatives, especially if our “good night sleep” doesn’t come as easily as before. Waking up in the middle of the night — or perhaps keeping late hours — could be an opportunity for enhanced creativity and productivity.

For all we know, making the most out of unpredictable sleep patterns might be essential to the new global order, where one person’s day is another’s night.

Notes

1. I’m alluding to the idea of the ‘social construction of reality,’ outlined by the sociologists Berger and Luckman.

2. It’s conceivable that Sri Aurobindo managed to activate these metabolic conditions while meditating, but on this we can’t be sure.

3. Readers interested in the notion of the ‘medical gaze’ are referred to Michel Foucault’s The Birth of the Clinic.

4. An internal FDA study suggests that about 2/3 of FDA scientists have lost confidence in that agency’s ability to protect the public from potentially harmful substances. See “Inside the FDA,” CBS.news.com, December 16, 2004:  http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/26/health/main638721.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories

5. The idea of the natural can be critiqued from sociological, philosophical and theological perspectives. Meanwhile, some maintain that the natural is qualitatively different from the volitional and the spiritual.

6. Ronald Wright’s discussion in A Short History of Progress is worthwhile, available on iTunes.

7. Divine Mercy in My Soul, p. 319. While the transfer of anxiety may not always be as clear and distinct as with this example of a recognized saint, it seems reasonable to suggest that everyone may be open, in varying degrees, to the ebb and flow of collective emotions and other psycho-spiritual qualities and experiences. In Indian philosophy, this points toward the idea of karma transfer, as noted by Indologist Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty in The Origins of Evil In Hindu Mythology. Also, C. G Jung and other transpersonal psychiatrists such as S. Grof similarly speak of syntonic countertransference.

8. (a) Not to ignore the possibility of spiritual deception. Please see ETs, UFOs and the Psychology of Belief and related articles at earthpages.org and earthpages.ca dealing with the idea of discernment. (b) The Church’s organizational structure stresses that the clergy conform (and to some degree laypersons) to a relatively fixed mode of worship and service. And perhaps in an attempt to be ‘modern’ and receptive to the scientific establishment, the Church seems to uncritically embrace some of the more spurious scientific ideas that are circulating today. This is no abstract point. In keeping with Michel Foucault’s thinking, giving credence to questionable discourses may have potentially harmful effects on individuals and society.

Wake up! The Social Construction of Sleep copyright © Michael Clark. All rights reserved.

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How to recognize a sign from God

Helix Nebula, NGC 7293 or "The Eye of God" by NASA & ESA via Wikipedia

Author: Vanessa Codorniu

‘We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.’― Anaïs Nin

Recently I was asked by Soul Kisses TV for my input on this question:

I always wonder how people interpret signs from God. How do you know? It’s a hard thing to describe. What do you think?-Cocoa Popps, NYC

As Iyanla Vanzant said this weekend at the recent Hay House conference ‘It all begins in the mind.’ How people interpret signs from God, a look from a stranger or even street signs on any given street, begins in each and every individual’s own mind. Therefore, before we can look at how we may interpret signs from God, we have to look at ourselves more closely.

These core beliefs that create the way we see the world are learned from our families, culture and personal experience. The key here is that they are learned and can be unlearned when they don’t serve our highest and most fabulous good.

Ask yourself: How do I see the world? What do I believe about life? Do I believe in love? Do I believe that it’s supposed to hurt? What defines success for me? What is my belief and relationship to God? The way we define anything has an impact on how we define everything. Our beliefs color our lens and our thoughts, feelings, reactions and experience will become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Do you think that you exist in a fundamentally benevolent world? Or do you believe deep in your heart that it’s a cruel, dog-eat-dog existence? Is your version of God loving and kind? Or punishing?

What we believe…is inevitably what we perceive. This will affect how we define, experience and react what we may call signs from God. For example if the world is a frightening place were there is not enough for everyone a pink slip from a job can seem to be the end of the world. It can make someone wonder/believe they if they were betrayed by a co-worker, an employer, or even God.

Another person, trusting in the Universe’s benevolence might be surprised at first, even worried and then decide that its God’s way of saying, ‘Your time here is done. Take some time off and explore options that may make you happier.’

If your worldview includes that the world will end in 2012, every earthquake, all political unrest and each piece of disturbing nightly news feeds into your belief as ‘signs’ that the world is ending. If you believe that God is kind and this Universe is benevolent you may very well notice greater kindness in the Universe, more people meditating, an overall increased spiritual awareness in the world that may be signs to you that our Earthly existence is going thru a consciousness shift rather than a ‘physical end.’

For example, I believe that I am a child of God and that the Universe is conspiring towards my outrageous success! So when it’s time for me to leave a situation, or someone calls me with an opportunity, I see it as a sign and explore it! It doesn’t mean that its not scary but I trust the Universe and while it may not look exactly the way I thought it would…my signs lead me to greater peace and joy.

How to receive and understand a sign from God:

1. Breathe deeply: Take several deep breaths. Allow yourself to truly breathe. So often we do not let ourselves breathe deeply because we fear feeling our feelings.

2. Feel however you feel: Allow yourself in this moment to just feel however you feel as you breathe deeply.

3. Allow yourself to be present: Close your eyes. Gently allow yourself to be present and release attachments to the past and worries of the future. Bring your full attention into the present moment.

4. Pray: One of my favorite prayers, ‘Dear God/Goddess/Ganesha/Great Spirit: help me to believe the truth about myself – no matter how beautiful it is!’- M. Wiederehr

5. Ask for answers: Most religions and spiritual paths express the idea, ‘Ask & you shall receive.’ One possible prayer to ask for guidance: ‘Dear God/Goddess/Great Spirit: please help me see, know, understand, and act on your signs as inspiration for my highest good.’

6. Trust: Know that as you quiet your mind, connect to yourself and open to your divine connection, that the prayers and asking has reached its sacred mark.

7. Pay attention: Watch, listen, breathe and allow yourself to be still. Is what you are sensing as a sign of God bringing you to greater peace? Is it filling you with hope? Is it unsettling in the moment because it asks that you release or let go of something that you want to hold on to? Imagine that you are brave enough to go through the changes… do you see the light at the end of the tunnel? Remember that in order to bring in what you are wanting, whether true love, great friends, new clothes or a successful career…we must be ready to let go of what no longer serves us. Not because it is ‘bad,’ simply because it has served you as well as it could and now as you are evolving, as well as the relationships, jobs and experiences that you are having.

8. Be open: Signs from the Divine come in emails, a stranger on the bus, random occurrences that are really synchronistic answers to your prayers, a dream, a commercial, a song on the elevator, Oprah, a chance meeting, an unseen break-up, your mom’s advice, your best friend’s jokes, re-runs, an inner feeling or sense, knowing things without knowing how you ‘know.’ Basically, we are in communication with God…all the time, whether we are open or not. When we are open we feel supported and connected to something greater. When we are closed, we feel disconnected, lost and sometimes abandoned.

Remember: if you don’t like the way things feel in your world…you can always change your mind!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/new-age-articles/how-to-recognize-a-sign-from-god-5258201.html

About the Author

Vanessa Codorniu, CHt, RM is a transformation facilitator, intuition coach, Reiki Master, writer and Latina urban priestess. She is a co-facilitator of SOL Circle, a NYC multi-cultural women’s empowerment circle since 1999. As a third generation intuitive, Vanessa has developed her psychic and spiritual abilities since childhood. Her authentic and life-affirming development process is supported by her creative toolbox and training, which includes: hypnosis, past life regression, Reiki, energy balancing, magnified healing & the arts.

For more information about Vanessa’s work visit http://sites.google.com/site/muzeworks/

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Lapis Lazuli, a semi precious stone, is healing and soothing

A Mesopotamian Lapis Lazuli Pendant - circa 2900 BC via Wikipedia

Author: OURANGELS

Lapis Lazuli, a semi precious stone, is healing and soothing. Simply touching the body with this stone improves your mental, physical, spiritual, psychic and emotional condition. An uplifting, spiritual stone, its deep blue colour reflects its peaceful vibrations. It is useful for relieving depression and promoting spirituality and is a fine meditative stone. Perhaps it’s most common use today is to strengthen psychic awareness. Lapis breaks the hold of the conscious mind on the subconscious (psychic) mind and allows intuitive impulses to become known. To generally increase your psychic awareness, wear lapis every day.

A stone of protection that may be worn to guard against psychic attacks, Lapis Lazuli quickly releases stress, bringing deep peace. It brings harmony and deep inner self-knowledge. Encourages self-awareness, allows self-expression and reveals inner truth, providing qualities of honesty, compassion and morality to the personality. Stimulates objectivity, clarity and encourages creativity. Lapis Lazuli assists to confront and speak one’s truth and inspires confidence. It bonds relationships, aiding in expression of feelings and emotions.

Lapis Lazuli boosts the immune system, purifies blood, lowers blood pressure, cooling and soothing areas of inflammation. It alleviates insomnia and vertigo, and overcomes depression. Lapis Lazuli benefits the respiratory and nervous systems and the throat, vocal chords, and thyroid, cleanses organs, bone marrow and thymus.

People living in the Middle Ages believed lapis could maintain the human skeleton in a strong and vigorous state and shield the human spirit from the consuming emotions of fear and jealousy. Lapis lazuli was also believed to aid depression, insomnia, fevers and disorders of the throat and lungs. In ancient times, lapis lazuli was also considered a sacred stone, which brought forth the blue of the sky and thus the ‘light of God’ into the world. It was often the favored stone of ancient rulers, Egyptian kings.

Anyone who has seen Lapis Lazuli will recall the vibrant blue color as well as the gold veins running through it. Often times referred to as a gem, this beautiful stone is technically a rock, consisting mainly of the mineral, lazurite as well as pyrite which makes up the golden veins.

Lapis is formed by contact metamorphism which occurs deep below the earth’s surface. This natural process occurs when magma finds its way deep into cracks in the earth’s crust; the intense heat of the fluid causes chemical changes in the rock surrounding the intrusion creating such beautiful stones as Lapis Lazuli. Lapis has a long history and has been considered valuable to peoples around the world for centuries. Today Lapis remains of aesthetic value as well as metaphysical.

Lapis was originally used by the Assyrians, Babylonians and the Egyptians. The Romans also considered Lapis to be an aphrodisiac. Lapis was highly praised by Pharaohs in Egypt as a mystical stone as well as a useful rock for making sculptures, jewelry and carvings because of its excellent ability to take a polish.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/new-age-articles/lapis-lazuli-a-semi-precious-stone-is-healing-and-soothing-4355340.html

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Review – Finding God: The Enlightenment (DVD 3 of 3)

Title: Finding God: The Enlightenment – Disc 3
Genre: Body Mind Spirit, Religion, Meta-Physics
Production Company: Reality Films

(Review for Disc 1 is here; Disc 2 is here)

Philip Gardiner’s Finding God: The Enlightenment is a three DVD set including Quantum Mind of God, Science of Soul, and Ancient Code.

Disc 3, Ancient Code: The Movie is a welcome departure from other films using the word “code” in their title–e.g The Bible Code and The Da Vinci Code.

Skeptics who haven’t seen this film might hastily dismiss it as a jump on the bandwagon, the concept of the “code” having a good pretty track record in New Age marketing.

This movie, however, speaks to a code far deeper than mere opportunism. And the writers, artists and thinkers involved in its production are clearly passionate about their beliefs.

The film revolves around several themes found in other Reality Films, such as the divinity of nature and the interconnection of all lifeforms by virtue of the idea that, at bottom, we’re nothing more than nested patterns of light and dark energy.

It’s a compelling position, one prefigured by Baruch Spinoza‘s naturalistic pantheism (and later nuanced by the likes of C. G. Jung and Carl Sagan) to portray spirituality as the human response to a numinous power that isn’t necessarily out there but, instead, exists inside oneself.

Not everyone agrees with this view. But the curious and those genuinely open to learning will find several innovative ideas that some traditional religious and scientific frameworks may overlook or, at least, underemphasize.

By way of example, Ancient Code questions the entire notion of progress. The film doesn’t deny that humanity has made great technological strides, but it asks just how much we’ve developed as a sentient species located within the greater cosmos.

Excessive Western greed, individualism and cultural fragmentation are also addressed, in contrast to more holistic Eastern paradigms sharing a deep appreciation for the old adage–for every action there’s a reaction.

Observations on the roots of crime, a live pagan Horn Dance and a psychological interpretation of the Grail Quest make this DVD a veritable smorgasbord of alternative perspectives about the essential connection and need for balance among body, mind and spirit.

–MC

(Review for Disc 1 is here; Disc 2 is here)

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Review – Finding God: The Enlightenment (DVD 2 of 3)

Title: Finding God: The Enlightenment – Disc 2
Genre: Body Mind Spirit, Religion, Meta-Physics
Production Company: Reality Films

(Review for Disc 1 is here;  Disc 3 is here)

Philip Gardiner’s Finding God: The Enlightenment is a three DVD set including Quantum Mind of God, Science of Soul, and Ancient Code.

Disc 2, Science of Soul: The End-Time Solar Cycle of Chaos in 2012 A.D., asks whether the year 2012 will bring about a quantum leap of consciousness or possibly a global nightmare.

Closely following Dr. John Jay Harper’s book Tranceformers: Shamans of the 21^st Century, Science of Soul explores these and other compelling questions.

The film’s innovative graphics and haunting soundtrack set the mood for a detailed examination of the mythic symbol of the axis mundi (world axis). Also, possible links among DNA, psi and global transformation are investigated.

Those sympathetic to the philosophy of natural pantheism, where the universe is taken to be God and therefore conscious, will find much in this DVD to support their beliefs. Meanwhile, believers in theism (where God is conceptualized as ‘wholly other’ from Creation) might bristle a bit at its unabashed syncretism.

Regardless of our guiding beliefs, Science of Soul carries an ethical message that few sane people would find fault in: To love and live peacefully among ourselves. And when you think about it, no one fully knows just what God is and how the divine interacts with organic life and the supposedly inorganic universe.

It’s probably just a matter of time before Science of Soul’s integral approach is embraced by the gatekeepers of both contemporary scientific and religious thought. But a comprehensive gelling of Big Science and Big Religion might take a little longer than most of us would hope for, given the deeply entrenched historical biases that inform our 21^st century worldview.

We shouldn’t be discouraged, however. As a catalyst for this much needed dialogue, Science of Soul is a definite step in the right direction.

–MC

(Review for Disc 1 is here;  Disc 3 is here)

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Review – Finding God: The Enlightenment (DVD 1 of 3)

Title: Finding God: The Enlightenment – Disc 1
Genre: Body Mind Spirit, Religion, Meta-Physics
Production Company: Reality Films

(Review for Disc 2 is here;  Disc 3 is here)

It’s critical, the situation is pitiful
Bear in mind, you gotta find somethin’ spiritual
We never gain, ’cause we blame it on the system
You oughta listen whether Muslim or Christian
Or any other type religion or creed

–Guru, “Living in this World,” Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality

Philip Gardiner’s Finding God: The Enlightenment is a three DVD set including Quantum Mind of God,  Science of Soul, and Ancient Code.

Disc 1, Quantum Mind of God, is a sweeping journey of exploration, encompassing ideas from the North African theologian St. Augustine, the French philosopher René Descartes, to the German quantum physicist Max Planck and beyond.

The soundtrack blends Gregorian chants, Hindi pop and contemporary New Age music. And the narration presents a unique 21st century theological synthesis, with a seamless array of graphics and images garnered from many sciences, religions and wisdom traditions like alchemical gnosticism and Shamanism.

Topics covered include the apparent importance of quartz, granite, vibrational patterns, magnetic movement and the pineal gland, all of which are said to link the micro and macrocosmic structures of nature and the larger universe.

Basically, this film is about life. And while mathematical equations try to provide the “how” of life, Quantum Mind of God rightly points out that equations, alone, cannot explain the “why” of our existence. Statistics might indicate how most of us are likely to behave on a given day or month with respect to certain predefined variables. But numbers can’t predict how specific individuals choose to exercise their free will.

There are always exceptions to the rule.

Some folks seem to forget that fact and end up looking like hypocrites. Just as we chop up nature into tiny pieces for analysis and dissection, some people’s minds seem to be arranged in almost discrete compartments. These persons often judge this or that moral action while turning a blind eye to their own questionable tendencies.

In short, not everyone is psychologically mature and integrated. And this psychological epidemic extends not just to the dull-witted or so-called “uneducated,” but arguably to all levels of society.

The antidote to this social malady, according to Gardiner, is holism. We must recognize the whole and not just the parts. This seems especially so when it comes to ESP (extrasensory perception).

Findings have repeatedly shown that ESP works better when emotion is involved. Be it the emotion of mature interpersonal attachment or even the basic arousal induced by erotic images, ESP is more pronounced when human beings are emotionally and physiologically activated, instead of just relying on abstract thought (disinfo.com¹ and disinfo.com²).

Quantum Mind of God’s message of individual freedom and, yet, basic interconnectedness is a timely reminder that we’ve got to get it together–within and among ourselves, and with the One who created all our selves.

–MC

(Review for Disc 2 is here;  Disc 3 is here)

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Help Always, Hurt Never

The kindness of strangers by Ed Yourdon via Flickr

Revenge, the desire to hurt others who have hurt us, only bears bitter fruit. It hurts those whom we have inflicted our wrath upon. And it hurts us, because no single act in the universe goes unrewarded. From that singular act, our own consciousness is wounded by the expression of our animalism.

Nations pride themselves on the swiftness of their retribution but inevitably collapse in on themselves because the seeds of discontent that they sow, hurts all of life. Rome, the greatest civilization that the world had ever known, built on the finest arts and sciences known to the ancient world, the epitome of legal and architectural order, collapsed from within, destroyed by its own impulse to use its mighty force to strike out and subdue.

Today our world is dying because of this impulse to strike out.

We are destroying each other at an alarming rate, both individually and collectively.

And even the earth itself, is collapsing at a faster rate than we can repair. Scientists now estimate that by the year 2050, we will have exhausted the earth of all its natural resources.

The science that we celebrate, the genius of our efforts, are wasted on destructive uses. Instead of using the power of the nucleus to build great civilizations we are busy using it to stockade bombs.

Billions of dollars that could be used to heal the broken places on our planet are used to send people to horrific deaths.

When we seek to hurt life, we hurt ourselves, for we are life.

Revenge it is said is a dish best served cold; but whether it is served with cold deliberation or hot reaction, it is a dish in whose very preparation we imbue a poison that will return to destroy us.

The greatest illusion is this: that we can hurt and not be hurt, that we can wound another and remain unscathed. When we inflict harm upon another, we inflict harm upon ourselves. What goes around comes around. A rudimentary study of history will prove this.

When we love, we reach out to align with life, to nurture and make others better, and in that act, we redeem ourselves from our own past follies.

This love is a precious act. It is our extension of spiritual power in the world. It is a moment of sympathy and support that we have for life. When you bend down and help a child tie its shoelaces, you are tying up all the knots of the world. When you listen in silence and understand another’s intention, you are spreading the meme of empathy through all of time and space, for thoughts are cosmic waves that do not know any barriers.

As we extend love to others, it comes back to us.

Yet we cannot love others unless we love ourselves as well.

We cannot live without making mistakes of judgment and do things that we will later regret, because we are na?ve and do foolish things out of that naivety. But we do grow, and looking back at the harm we have invoked, we feel grief. Our act of love, then, is to forgive ourselves. Yet instead of taking this simple act, we damn ourselves repeatedly, and in this way, we still hurt life, because we are life.

When we feel the urge to strike out, we must remember how it feels to have the wound inflicted upon our own flesh, because everything returns to the author of a deed.

Help always, hurt never. Do this and your life will be a blessing to the world and you must reap the harvest from what you have sown.

Source: http://www.articlecircle.com/ – Free Articles Directory

About the Author

Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas with you. Hunting everywhere for a life worth living? Discover the life of your dreams. His book, Never Ever Give Up is offered at no cost to stimulate your success. http://www.theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html

Resolving The Paradox Between Psychology And Spirituality

Diagram about boundary problem via Wikipedia

It seems that there is a contradiction between the psychology of transcendence and the spiritual idea of transcendence.

Psychologists believe that through the proper application of intelligence and self-cognition one can have a full and enjoyable life, with wealth, health, and a great relationship, as well as a sense of communal belonging and contribution.

Those in spiritual groups, in particular of an eastern orientation, believe that one has to get rid of the lustful ego that craves only fleeting things and to unify with divine consciousness.

The most popular compromise to resolve this seeming paradox is that you have to build up the self and let it go. In Vedic philosophy this is expressed as becoming a householder in the first stages of life then retiring to pursue transcendence.

Yet most believe, because of cognitive dissonance, that they should choose one view or the other.

Thus, there are those who believe that they should be worldly and experience the world as it appears to be.

Then there are those who believe that they should reject the world and dedicate themselves to getting out of the misery of the cycle of birth and death.

Here is another way of understanding this paradox.

The self is a transcendent consciousness. It is not limited to a particular body or a particular lifetime. Because it is not anything in particular, the “I” is not an “it.” This is why Buddhists say there is “no-self.”

Similarly, the world itself is entirely illusory. I don’t mean this metaphorically or even psychologically. At the subatomic level, again there is no substance. There are just probability patterns that literally flit in and out of existence! For example, an electron can appear under an observing instrument then disappear, then reappear again. There literally is no stuff! This is why the Vedantists say that the world is Maya, or illusory.

Yet to all purposes, on the macroscopic level, both an intelligent being and an intelligible world appear to exist.

On this level, personal growth and advancement is necessary, not because it means anything on a cosmic scale, but because there is literally nothing else to do with this adventure of life. You can either resist evolution and suffer all kinds of lack or you can embrace evolution and the refining of mind and enjoy fulfillment of resources and experiences.

Thus, when you look at things from the view of levels of perception, all contradictions disappear, just as the contradiction of day and night disappears when you understand that the sun and earth are in a cosmic dance.

It is possible to be engaged in the world and to actually enjoy it and at the same time to enjoy meditation and contemplation to experience the inner sky of blissful freedom. It is by no means an easy path, but after a while, they will support each other. Material success and harmonious relationships will give you the opportunity to retreat to your inner work. Similarly your inner work will contribute to your increase of abundance and maintaining a loving relationship with others.

Source: http://www.articlecircle.com/ – Free Articles Directory

About the Author

Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas with you. Hunting everywhere for a life worth living? Discover the life of your dreams. His book, Never Ever Give Up is offered at no cost to stimulate your success. http://www.theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html

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