The Thankfulness of Giving

The bountiful life that is ever present often eludes us on a daily basis. When do we stop and smell the roses or arise knowing full well that this is a day not promised to anyone; and yet, here we are!  Each breath, taken and released might serve as a stark reminder of just how powerful and fragile the fine line is between here and not.

There is a beloved member of my close knit circle of friends and family who has been challenging the boundaries between here and there.  A massive brain tumor has been threatening him since he was 15 years old.  He staved off the first round and now, 25 years later,with the tumor back, the decision must be made to stand and deliver.  He is a brave and calculating soul, often impatient with the doctors and their lack of providence of things unseen.  Surely, every day is a blessing that he insists is his to have and to hold.

Generally, we humans tend to wait until some tragic events forces us to take into account our many blessings. Rarely is it within our social structure to note without hesitation, the glory that is unfolding everywhere we look.  The frantic to and fro of daily life comes into focus only when we are forced to stop and reflect.
A single moment pregnant with the pause of wonder makes it all clear.  Nature is giving us the seeds of change and the electromagnetic field to make it grow.  So what are we planting?  How will we sow what has been gifted into our domain and where do we spread the harvest?

I recently heard an economist say that we could not as humans afford to pay Nature for all that she bestows upon us.  The costs would be too high even to calculate with any certainty. Happily for us, Nature is as generous as life is everlasting.  The currency of goodwill is very much a natural occurrence for which we surely need to capitalize on.  Giving to our fellow man is part of the fabric of humankind.  The collective consciousness inherent in communities has kept us a float for millions of years on this planet.  Without the cooperative give and take of learning to survive, Homo sapiens (Latin for "wise man") would have perished long ago.   There is a reason we are our brother's keeper.

This high holiday season is filled with the hustle and bustle of friends and family coming together to give thanks.  For those of us with warm homes and a full belly, we can give thanks with a glass of wine and
a hearty laugh for another year of success.  For the many without food, shelter and warm clothing huddled against an icy wind of selfishness sweeping across the land, breathing might well be all they are grateful for. And, for those dedicated to power, profit and privilege, (careful, that glass tower was made in China) there is a wide range of things to be thankful, mainly a populace that is too uninformed and uninspired to act in their own best interest.

Being thankful on any day is the best one can do to pay homage to the Life given.  The man in the hospital insisting on each shallow breath lives one swallow at a time and smiles happily with gratitude.  His family prays fervently for a miracle. That he has lasted this long says so much about the power of life to sustain itself even when all else seems not to. (Ironies abound, everything and everyone on this planet is a miracle of creation and often we can't see the forest for the trees.) At the time of this writing, his great presence is still among us.  I am happy.

Giving to anything is purposeful.  We are given to enormously without asking.  The god of big and small things never adds up the bill and waits for delivery.  Pay it forward is an idea whose time came years ago and is still going strong. The thankfulness of giving to others comes without an expiration date; it is time immemorial!

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.

With great love and respect
Esprit

Couched in the Remarkable

There are many ways to hit the jackpot.  Normally, I seize every opportunity to test that theory as I go about my created day, moving from one scenario to another.  I share this quirky and anecdotal tale with you as a reminder that unseen elements of this great life can creep up when we least expect it, often with amazing results.

You see, I have been looking for a daybed for months now and knew that the swanky sofa with its $400. price tag at World Market was not the ticket for my budget.  So, I do what I know to do, I focus!!!!!  Every time I went out into the thrift shop world, I looked earnestly for something similar to that beautifully designed imported daybed that I fell in love with.  No go and yet I was never discouraged because I knew my focus worked.  I have had countless examples on and off the field to know that what you hold in your mind with clear intent can materialize when you least expect it.  We all have such stories and love to regal our friends with the whopping wonderment of it all.

Well, the other day there was a reckoning.  I had a feeling something was a foot.  I drove to the Goodwill and there, as I approached the area with furniture, was the EXACT couch that I had drooled over at the World Market.  The exact couch.  I tried to stop the men who were taking it away. I pleaded with them to stop, as I knew that was MY couch.  They laughed and said someone had just purchased it and I was plum out of luck.  I was astonished but not at all dissuaded.  I called out to the woman who just bought the couch to reconsider, so was my complete belief that this was my created moment and manifestation.

They all laughed at me and one worker came to console me as he patted me on the shoulder.  I tried to explain that the universe does not work this way.  That I always get what I focus on and I know that this was my couch.  I paced back and forth trying desperately to understand how this could have happened.  I was stunned and shocked that the exact expensive couch that now was only $65 was out of my grasp and no longer within reach.  All the while, I had not noticed that I was standing in front of a beautiful dark brown leather couch.  A couch so fitted to my living room and perfect for the added space I needed for visitors, I could not have conjure it up if I tried.

 And, yet...there it was just waiting for me to notice it.  Just waiting for me to come to terms with the nature and brilliance of creation.  I sat down in a row of chairs in front of this couch and slowly gaze at it. The sting from losing what I thought was the perfect couch temporarily clouded my generally good eye for a bargain.
As I ruminated over the loss and confusion as to why my pointed intent had not materialized as I had so created it, I began to see the nut brown beauty before me.  It is true that some feline creature had its way with this leather sofa at one time, but its carvings were slight and did not take away from the fact that this might just be what I really needed.  The young man who had consoled me earlier said that he thought when one door closed, another one was bound to open, as he pointed out the couch in front of me.  Clearly, the "powers that be" wanted me to come to terms with the couch in front of me.

I have had various experiences in the "tank" to know that sometimes a chosen path can lead to a dead end.
I took a deep breath and relaxed.  I sat in that chair and re focused.  I gathered myself up and regained my footing.  My goodness, what a lovely couch.  I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I had not been abandoned by the universe.  I found my card!!!!!  I laughed at myself, but hey, I used every opportunity in my life to understand what I have been taught by our great teacher. Here I was, obsessing over a sofa and yet, I knew it was the magic that I love.  The hunt for the extraordinary, knowing that I set a course in motion and hit the jack pot at the end of the journey. This is creating the day, everyday.

Good friends came to the rescue.  They helped me lug this couch up the stairs and set it down in my living room. It belonged there, that much was obvious.  And, as it turned out, I could also sleep on it, soft and cozy as a bug in a rug. All bases were covered.  I reflected on the layers of information "couched" in the events of the day.  I seemingly did not know that I would be visited upon by a chair with some much to teach me.  I set out to claim one thing and ended up with what I needed more. Earlier in the day I was confounded by the tangled threads of a missed opportunity. By day's end, I was convinced I had plugged into something greater.  The mind of the soul knows more than we do.  The gathering of events in life weave together a tapestry of experiences with wisdom that shapes who we become.  As silly as this all seemed at the time, I will always remember the power of the remarkable to show itself, even in a simple sofa.

This is the high holiday season...enjoy it with friends and family!

With great love and respect
Esprit

Inner Life of the Outer Limits

There was a time when give me "liberty or give me death" was the rallying call to arms. These days, give me greed and more is what seems to get most of us out of bed in the morning.  Consumerism is at an all time high.  There is nothing more exciting than going to a store to buy more of what we already have.

And yet, the more we have the more we want.  We are consumed by the unstoppable need to have more and more.  The rich get richer and the poor pile into the Goodwill stores looking for the cast offs.  Neither seems to have a way to reevaluate what truly is missing.  An objective observer might tell you that this is all the result of marketing.  Yet, the inherent need for more does not begin in the marketplace.  It begins much more visceral than that.

We seek an unknown. Our quest is far a flung and out of reach.It is that elusive reckoning which causes us to wonder the imponderables.  Where did we come from and why are we here; where are we off to when we leave this improbable place? The cold sweats at night only elevate the mystery.  The sudden illness and the inexplicable accident, the lottery win at 79 instead of 29 makes it all too strange.  We are strangers in a wasteland of troubles that drink and drugs and sex seem to keep at bay.  Some of us cling to religion, others gamble with fate and still others seek the high road of righteousness, hoping to please the devil we know and outwit the one we don't.  But, where has it all gotten us, except stumbling in the dark looking for the door of salvation.

There is an old saying..."go within or go without".  When I first heard this adage, I thought it was clever and a nice turn of phrase.  It was only after stumbling around in the dark for many years, did I realize what the meaning was.  In truth, I struggled with that sitting quietly thing and waiting for the voice of god to answer my questions. I had little patience with silence and it surely was not golden.  Frustration and inconsistency always led to more of the same.  Eventually, I learned to be still.  OK...for short periods of time, I mastered the minute by minute not moving thing and got to let go.  The peace and glow of inner grace pulled me deeper into a hidden world of inner space.

The first time I did this, I was a mere 12 year old girl. I knelt on a wooden floor with my eyes closed.
I was forced to kneel there as penance for an unspecified amount of time.Without warning my body fled the room and I was wider than the universe.  And just as quickly, I was a small tiny speck of nothing.  I boomeranged back and  forth between the inner and outer worlds of unlimited space. At the time, I was truly unaware of what had happened to me.  It was years later that I understood the power of my inner life.

These days, going within is more grounded in my soul and I feel that the bridge between the two are within my grasp at any moment.  I seek to make them seamless on a daily basis and I find that this has led to one of those impossible questions to be answered. The "who" am I becomes less mysterious the more I touch the inner life of my spirit-soul-self.  Practicing the "fellowship" of the two becomes the walk and maintaining the uninterrupted flow between them is the focus.  Everyday is created as the template to merge the miraculous.

With love and deep respect.

Esprit

The Exponential Power of the Legacy Walk

Walking is an automatic and daily occurrence for most of us on the planet, however there is one man who has walked this Earth for the sake of the seemingly endless pleasure of making the environment the monumental focus of his purposeful walk.  And, should this one fact be too difficult to understand, this clear thinking individual also stopped talking for 17 years as well.

The biology of conviction encapsulated John Francis' singular journey into a new world.  He neither rode in cars, trains, planes, nor any motorized vehicles because of one tragic oil spill that he witnessed in California in 1971.  So powerful was this experience, he decided that something had to be done.  Soon, this man in his late twenties began walking and eventually stopped talking about the reasons for his decision. Now many years later, Dr. Francis is a leading authority in environmental activist making a difference. Imagine shutting up for 17 years and walking the Earth for 22 years could make such an impact on everything around you.!

Upon learning of John's story, I was aghast at the simplicity of conviction and the power of its strength once the authenticity of its reality was known.  John began his "legacy walk" with the knowledge that it was a "one day at a time" adventure.  He later stated that never in his wildest dreams did he think he would walk from coast to coast, built his own boat, earn a series of degrees, and become a leading expert in oil spills without speaking for the "Home" he loved so much.

It is clear that John had a plan.  It was simple and pure.  It required nothing more than to just do it, one step at a time.  Slowly and clearly, the plan unfolded by making known, an unknown.  When the student is ready, the way will reveal itself. For in point of fact, one can not reveal the unknown from a known place. There is a leaping off the edge moment and going forward into an unfamiliar expanse. There, the carpet of choice is laid down by sheer self possession and the willingness to see it through to its end.  The "legacy" of such a walk is etched into the universal fabric of the connective tissue of our many selves. A new Beingness is born and the many worlds of wonder continue to flourish.

I often contemplate about the power of the teachings on the student body and us becoming "Practitioners of the Plan". We have been righteously taught to "walk the talk".  We have been privileged to fabulous information formally hidden from the masses on the power of intention and the direction of thought. And we know first hand that consciousness and energy create reality.  John Francis came to this profound understanding without an "overt" master teacher.  His was within himself.  He trusted a greater wisdom simply by trusting his inner soul.  On the wall of our great hall are the keys to the kingdom" "Behold God".

The myriad of disciplines and years of focus was always about finding our own inner plan and becoming practitioners of that which guided us from within. When I read about the long focus that John Francis held in order to discover the unknown worlds within and without his reality, I was convinced that what we have been taught is not so hidden after all.  The soul will lead the way so long as we are willing to find it..."Behold God".

Esprit

Books by John Francis, Phd.
Planetwalker
The Ragged Edge of Silence

It would be wonderful if John Francis was invited to our school to share his experiences.

Becoming More

Independence Day comes once a year for the country, but it can also be a daily occurrence simply by changing one's mind. On any given day we are confronted with ideas and situations that force us to rethink the day before.  Last night I had a wonderful conversation with a co-worker which, by all accounts, freed me from an nagging thought about the recent flurry of students flocking to the local casino.

You see, her story was both simple and profound.  It truly was the link in a long line of inquires about why this focus on money was so important and the methods by which it could be obtained.  Lady "J" (the name I will give her for this article) told me about her journey through focus, fieldwork and candles.  Out of her intention and labor of love for the work, a symbol is revealed and she then goes off to the casino. As she navigates the crowded gambling hall with fellow students, she scans the floor for a free machine. But, her eyes lift and above the bustling chance-takers, are ads and buried in one was the very symbol from her focus.

 So, off she goes to the machine under the sign.  Lady "J", adjusts herself and prepares to put all of herself into this process.  She quickly pulls out her dollar and tries in vain to insert it.  "Dang it", the machine repeatedly rejects the old faded greenback.  However, it does yield an unexpected gift.  It spits out a "windfall" ticket.  Still focused on getting that darn dollar into the machine, Lady "J" quickly glances at the ticket but continues to insert the dollar.  OK...OK...this clearly isn't working and our girl gets up to cash her ticket that she believes is worth $5.  As she trudges her way to the cashier, she is unaware of the magical and  wondrous world that has enveloped her.  Space and time has collapsed around her, bleeding through her bands and coagulated into the very reality she has conjured up. Upon arriving at the cashier, she is not prepared for the surprise that awaits her.  Instead of $5 dollar, she has been gifted a $500 windfall.

Windfall, indeed!

But, is it really a windfall, or was it the very steps, the cosmic markings, the intent and focus of a mind ready and willing to become more?  I listened with great intent to her sharing and I was so thrilled with the fortuity of what it sounded like at the time.  We were at an Independence Day party and it was time to go, we parted and I went to my garden and the wheels began to turn.

This "windfall" was more than a chance occurrence.  There was nothing haphazard about it.  I contemplated the story for a long time and many answers were revealed. My mind has a particular way it engages my sometimes lazy thinking.  It shows me multiple images and then allows me to filter out the ones that are irrelevant.  And, thus, Lady "J"'s story answered two most important issues for me.  The first is related to the notion that money is really what we want.  The second is that fretting away at a casino is the way to easily obtain it.

Clearly, money is not the issue and the casino is not the venue.  What I gained from her experience was in a way, my "windfall".  Suddenly, I could see it all.  There is a quote from our esteemed teacher that I keep in my studio.."the longing is not to have more, but to become more..."  How does keeping the focus on money get us closer to that goal has been my inquiry to myself.  Well, it doesn't.  I was again stumped.  I walked myself through Lady "J"'s story again and again.  I went to sleep and woke up with the complete picture, just like that!

In order for there to be passion, there first must be desire.  In our created world of "things", it takes money to satisfy the physical preoccupation of survival.  There is a skilled and trusty warrior out there who has taken eons to facilitate a great internal change in ourselves.  Never waste a crisis, they say in politics...and in the politics of survival, this ancient god knows exactly how to meld the monumental fabric of  Nothingness with the vast possibility of Everything.

So, here we all are, focused and wearing our millionaire cards on every part of our bodies, laced in our language and forged in steel in long hours of candle work.  We are engaged in the theology of wealth...BUT..ARE WE.?   A mind is a terrible thing to waste and lo and behold, as I tumbled out of bed, I saw the entire spectrum of answers.  In order to get us to what we really WANT, we have been directed to what we NEED.  Lady "J" wanted to win at the machines...she actually WON at the GREATER MIND MOMENT...the 23rd universe of let me show you how its done!  In my mind, it was all the "stuff" that led up to the $500 and not the money itself....(bells are going off now....CHA-CHING!)

If we KNOW how to walk the realm of creation, pulling from its vast possibilities at any given moment, then everything becomes the "windfall".  Lady "J"'s story illustrated that to me so very clearly.  It is also why I have gotten more insight into why students are flocking to the casinos.  It is not to have more, but to become more!.

A few years ago there was a fabulous film called Slumdog Millionaire.  It was a brilliant treatise on how important aspects in the life of the hero led to his "knowingess" to win, not the money the show was offering , but the hand and heart of the woman he loved.  This is basically what I think is happening with us all these years. Every teaching and every experience is leading us closer to that moment where the buzzer goes off in our brains and we know we have won.

What do we win? We come to understand how the universe works, how we are within the very fabric of this unfolding place.  We are its givers and fakers, its chance takers and riddle makers.  Becoming more Becomes More!.  More power to heal on the stop, more energy to move mountain, more inner vision to see beyond the walls of doubt.  Our teacher knows the true meaning of windfall.  We are about to find out as well.

So, I spent my Independence Day becoming greater than my small minded thinking about a smoky pit in the middle of the Nisqually Pines.  20 years ago, I sat in audience and heard the ultimate conundrum..."you are already that which you are becoming"  I laughed out loud as I thought, how convoluted is that!  Well, it has taken 20 years to unravel a known quotient.
  
Peace and love in our lifetime

Esprit

Solar Revolution Full Movie

This is a movie that everyone must see.

Metaphysics and the Metaphor

There was a time in my youth when lessons were relegated to the classroom complete with essays and grade scores.  As I got older, I began to understand that life dished out its own "carpe diem" to wax or whine poetically upon. These days, I am more enlightened and fully prepared for the true "runners" that come my way on a daily basis to make sure I have my eye on the proverbial ball, as it were.  

My understanding of the term "runner" is that of a fore telling of something with a lesson.  We have been told by a master teacher that these forecasts are nature's way of realigning us to the path we are walking; an adjustment if you will, to the reality we are creating.

My "runner" came in the form of a smear on my car windshield. For weeks it seemed, I was wiping this stain from the windshield wiper blades to no avail.  I reminded myself many times to replace the wipers on the car, believing they were the reason the smear was always there!  Nevertheless, I continued to hope that the smear would go away with a week of rain. It did not.

Then, one day of idle gazing out the car window....it happened!  As if the universe could not stand it one minute more, my hand involuntarily moved up to the windshield on my side of the window.  I "mindlessly" swiped the smear and magically it was gone!  I sat stunned and frankly embarrassed at myself.  I had the power to remove the stain from the window the entire time! WOW.

I laughed and then nearly cried at the simplicity of the solution and the profound message it was sending me.  I immediately remembered a teaching Ram gave us years ago about sitting in a cell with the keys in our hand.   As it turns out, even with the keys in hand, the lock can sometimes be as elusive as the jailer.  I read somewhere that faith begins as an experiment and ends up as an experience. Needless to say, I was astonished and baffled as to why I had not thought to clean the window on my side of windshield.

I have pondered the many layers of meaning that awaited this question.  Why had it taken so long to figure out that the smear was on the inside of the windshield? The metaphoric nature of the situation obviously mirrored what was going on in my inner/outer life.  As the adage goes, "as within, so without, as above, so below" and yet, the colloquial one seemed the best fit "go within, or GO without! So, I began to take apart  the puzzle and make my way through the conundrum of where and why I had not seen the bigger picture before. Grateful for the powerful lesson this set me up to learn, I took my time unraveling this mystery.

The Assumption:

Upon seeing the smear, I made the immediate "assumption" that it was on the outside of the windshield. Once I was tied to this decision, my reactions towards this problem had built in solutions. Use the wiper to clean the window.  When this did not work, get to the auto store and buy new wipers blades.  Everyday thereafter, I still used the old wipers to no avail.

So long as I held firmly to the "assumption" that the problem was the blades, my behavior was not going to change. My "mindless reactions" to the smear had more to do with a limited view of what I was looking at, rather than a fully formed understanding of what I was "seeing". Finally, in assuming I had all the answers to the problem, I made no other effort to rethink or to "know" of a different outcome.  I was closed down and closed off from any other input about the smear in my field of vision.

The Smear in My Field of Vision:

I have given this experience a great deal of thought.  I love chewing on an idea and mining its interior with a spyglass.  But, for the life of me I had not seen the smear in my field of vision from my side of the windshield.  The metaphors were coming out of the woodwork on this one.  How many times do I not "see" what is right in front of my eyes? How many times do I refuse to think and know from another vantage point?  How many times have I come to the wrong conclusion based on faulty information?

These questions washed over me for quite a long time.  I reflected on my "outer daily encounters where I think that talking it over and over again would result in a different outcome.  I replayed that singular movement when my hand let me off the hook and brought resolution to the smear.  The smear in my field of vision was on my side of the window and, thus of my own creation.

Metaphysics and the Metaphor:

After days of contemplation, I now had a viable lesson.  It has been beamed into my psyche like a laser.  All roads come from the inner life of ME.  In order for Spirit to get me to look more closely at the frame work of this reality, it set up an clever trick for me to follow.  A smear on the windshield in my field of vision.   Frankly, I am glad it took awhile to get the message.  Had I figured out the solution right away, I might not have seen just how important this truth really is.

We are creator gods.  What we create is for the greater good of who we are.  The lesser parts of this paradigm becomes the overriding force in our everyday existence.  Sometimes, it is the small things that make the biggest noise.  My inner life was screaming for me to get a grip and take note of where I was taking my created outer life.  I am so energized by this truth.  I am so glad I was taught to know a "runner" when I met one head on.

With One Stroke:

My hand involuntarily moved up to the windshield, and with one stroke the smear was gone.  Our teacher tells us that consciousness and energy can change in a moment.  A shift in momentum can cause a tidal wave to go in another direction.  A powerful breath can change the outcome of a manifestation on the field.  With one stroke,  I was free.  I laughed at myself and from the clear implications for my life.  I gave thanks to the god that loves me.  I rejoiced at the moment of pure wisdom, a truth that can never be diminished.  I tell you with story with humility, knowing that it is so easy to remain on the other side of ignorance and the outer realms of limited certainty.

The Outer Realms of Limited Certainty:

My basic instinct is to believe I know something. I have always prided myself on being intelligent and savvy.  The reason I love the teachings so much is that it married my smarts with knowledge, along with hands on experiences that I could build on.  I know that I know.  I get the picture.  I am sure of myself.  I AM.  and yet, this hubris and cunning fallacy is what creates the "trick bag' of assumption.  Just because I know that I know something, i.e, a smear on my windshield looks like it is on the outside of my window....doesn't mean that it IS!.  Here's the rub...it is also true that the smear could have been on the outside of my window. The great divide between seeing what you are looking at and "knowing what you see", takes greater insight and depth of awareness that surface information can't offer. The outer realms of limited certainty is a road map for a limited romp through reality.  Imagine being the person who never discovers that the smear is on the inside!

Behold God:

The timeless nature of each breath allows for a greater growth of one's inner life.  Be still and know ye are God is an affirmation to thrive in.  Stillness doesn't always mean a lack of motion.  The pause and the inhalation of breath takes one down the spiral stairway to a heaven one rarely knows without pushing the button IN.  I am the recipient of a clever god; the divine self within me.  I see the wider picture with each viewing and know that the shadow play on clear glass can lead to pristine vistas, just for the asking.  Behold God!    

With great love and respect

Esprit