Breathing

Paying attention to one's breath is an important way of coming more fully into the present moment. Many people know this, but do not take the time to do it, often because they are too busy with other things to remember to breathe with awareness.

Breath connects us to life-force and to our inner life. It creates a consciousness of what is going on in the body and hear, not just the mind. It opens us to inner guidance. The reasons for not paying attention to breathing at times throughout the day are simple - we are too involved with what is going on in our minds to do so.

Becoming more fully involved in the present moment is a doorway to new experience that cannot happen while one is fully engaged with the mind. What new experience? This depends upon the flow of awareness that is uniquely the inner journey of each soul.

The experience of the present creates a new view of life - one that does not rely on worrying, planning, and thinking, in order to feel safe. Instead, it relies on trusting, allowing, and participating in the flow of life in order to feel safe. This is an important part of the consciousness shift that is happening now and it can happen more fully for those willing to embrace the present moment with love and care, as if it mattered. Each moment matters. Each is sacred. But to perceive this one must be there with one's full self. This is God's invitation to each soul - to show up at the feast of life.

The Revelation of Truth

God speaks in a whisper to our open
hearts and minds,
making known the truth of the soul.
We learn about ourselves in this way and
also about others.

Intuitions of truth fall like rain into
a silent space.
And even if the mind is not silent,
the message of the Divine can find its way
between the words of whatever thoughts are
taking place.

This phenomenon of inner communication
is an intimate encounter with the Beloved,
bringing us toward what we are meant to hear,
or know, or be.

In trust, the gentle message falls into an
accepting space. There, it blossoms and grows,
nurturing new life both for ourselves
and for the world.

The Art of Life or Life as Art

When we speak of 'art' as a subject, we tend to solidify it so that we call to mind things that have been made like paintings, sculptures, pieces of music or other forms. This is a content or 'outcome' approach to art that does not address the deeper level of the creative process.

The creative process of art and the creative process of life are the same. They emerge from the same flow and originate at the same Source. They both have as their motive the need to express the essential self. Art-as-process in its most fundamental sense is a Divinely ordained process - the inner being or soul wanting to express on the physical plane. Here, the question is not whether one has talent or what the ultimate form will be that gives shape to that expression, but what the inner drive or longing is to communicate what needs to be said. This will-to-express can take any form or no form. It is the drive of the inner being that creates beauty, that creates relationships that are loving and that creates the shape of a life itself.

We need to find a new language in which to speak of this so that art and life no longer seem so separate. Thinking of both as emanating from the inner wellspring that wants to live fully helps our understanding. Both art and life are expressions of our will-to-live, and not only our will-to-live, but God's will to live and to express through us.

More about this subject can be discovered by ordering the CD called "Art, Spirituality, and the Choice to Live," a Dharma talk given by Julie Redstone recently. For inquiries contact information @lightomega.org.

Timelessness in Time - 2

No plans, no agendas, no fears, no intentions.
All is quietly expectant, waiting for the next moment to unfold.

Being part of the flow of the timeless within time,
God's presence breathes what is into existence.

Sea Voyage

To travel lightly one must relinquish

ownership of life,
giving back to the Creator what felt

like a possession
but was really only a borrowed form -
the sail of a ship floating

on uncharted seas,
filled with the Breath of God.

Whispers of the Divine

Guidance comes in many forms and many ways.

Sometimes in words that appear out of nowhere.

Sometimes in the inspiration of the heart that leaps in response to the joy it feels, or to the love that bubbles up from the invisible well within.

Some guidance is given through a sense of rightness that creates a feeling of flow in a certain direction and an aversion to alternative directions.

Some, makes itself known during the peaceful stillness of going within, where a new thought is found, a new hope, a new path to follow.

There are other kinds of contacts with the Divine associated with beloved beings of the higher realms who guide humanity. These beings assist both those on a conscious spiritual path and those who are not. Each person who begins to awaken has such guides and helpers associated with their journey, and whether recognized or not, increments of spiritual light, love, strength, and truth are added by these helpers to what the embodied soul already contains so that more becomes possible. Especially when one asks for help and guidance is this true.

Beyond specific streams of help offered and help received is the light available to mankind that may be termed the Breath of the Divine. This Breath is a flow of light that moves through all creatures, maintaining life, sustaining hope, creating the wish to live in a state of oneness and love - the natural state of the soul.

Sacred and holy Breath moves within the very air we breathe. It pulsates through the body with every heartbeat. Penetrating the crown chakra and moving throughout the human body, this light stream is the link between the human individual and their higher Self and between the body and the spirit. It does not replace the connection with God. It is the vehicle for that connection.

When times are hard, it is easy to think that the benevolence of God and of the higher realms has vanished, and that what remains is only the possibility of taking care of things oneself. However it may appear, this is never true. Even in the midst of great difficulty, strengthening from within can come, the heart can be given new hope, and endurance can be supported, even when outer circumstances cannot be changed.

Whispers of the Divine are meant for human ears. Animals and plants feel these whispers as part of their natural biorhythms. Human beings are meant to experience such contact in a more conscious way. Blessed are those who learn to know the inhalation of Divine Breath and light and the exhalation of Divine purpose through the joining of the human Will with the Divine. When such is the case, whispers of the Divine become part of the movement of life itself, pointing the way, illuminating the path of truth, creating the possibility for living life as part of the sacred Oneness.

The Practice of Alignment

Spiritual practice: Breathing in light.
Connecting to the Source through
the holy Breath.

Imagine: Each physical breath the transporter
of the spiritual.
All dimensions forever interacting,
Connecting the body with the spirit.


See - The Practice of Alignment. A gateway to remembrance.

Undaipur Street With Cow

The personal in the Universal,
The Universal in the personal,
The sacred essence of a life that is holy.

Nothing too small,
Nothing too large,
All is held in God, as God.

___________________

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Photo by Claude Renault

Becoming Weightless

How touching are the physical things we hold onto for a moment as mementos of our time on Earth - souvenirs of the journey, reassuring us that we have a past and are somebody, have been someplace, have done something.

Letting go of these things that we gather, and collect, and hoard, is hard to do, yet it enables us to move on, to be created anew in each moment.

These things that we hold onto can be buoyant and uplifting, tender and innocent, but more often they are weights that we carry in order to preserve our sense of who we are. Because of their weightedness, they often slow us down.

To be free to un-weight one must have the courage to live freely, to live trustingly, to live with the understanding that life is forever disclosing its secrets to us, and that we listen best when we are open and empty. Then we can hear the voice of God speaking through time and space into the very corners of our heart and soul.

Looking Inside

It is often easier to see beauty outside of oneself than inside.
Pride gets in the way,
fear gets in the way,
blame gets in the way.

Next time you look inside, look not for what is yours
but for what is God's.
Then you will not have to worry about pride or fear.
All that you will see will belong
to the One
who created you.

Artwork - Daniel B. Holeman

A Meeting With Others

In this group of souls that I gather with
are the flames of many candles,
all lit, all burning brightly,
all expressing the sacred fire that lives within.

Each candle's light burns steadily, eternally,
unquenchable, unstoppable.
And yet it may not be seen or known by the outer self,
the self that thinks itself to be but a dim reflection
of the possible.

We are the lights of Creation.
We meet, we join, we gather to bring
our flames into one flame,
and still to remain uniquely ourselves,
blazing with our own inner fire.

When two or more are gathered in My name,
there I Am, sayeth the Lord.
Flame upon flame, consuming lesser truths,
burning through limitation,
creating the glory of God in the unity of souls.

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I Am

The great mystery and wonder of existence

is to know that

God lives within you as you.

How many tears have been shed because

this knowledge seemed lost!

Beginnings

The beginning of all things is the Breath of God, exhaling so that life can come into being. So, too, is the nature of true inspiration. The invisible Breath moves as an impulse of light through our awareness, creating the action that will then create the word.

Thus, even in beginning this writing, the awareness is there that 'I' did not start it, but that an action from beyond moved through me, activating the impulse to create, joining with the source of thought and of speech so that words could be written. This impulse is not alien to the self, but joins with the innate qualities of consciousness of the self so that God's purposes and the soul's purposes are one.

Blessed is each moment of new beginning, for it reflects the creative life of the One who moves through all.