Peace, Living in peace, peaceful, joyous, happiness, choosing peace

You Can Never Out-Give the Universe

by Elliott on May 15, 2013

Sunday, when I unloaded my home and garden purchases, I noticed that I had taken home two more bags of mulch than I had purchased. I am not certain how the discrepancy occurred but it is the type of event that I always used as a teachable moment when I had children at home.

Yesterday evening I went by Lowe’s to purchase some more mulch and to square up my errant purchase. The clerk was a little surprised that I had reported my error and readily accepted my money for the two bags. She was impressed and extended last week’s prices so I could buy two more at the sale price.

As I loaded my car, I felt really good. It was that kind of peaceful feeling you get when you do something “right” even though no one is watching. I thought to myself, I could have gotten away with this from the human perspective but I can never cheat the Universe. We always receive, in like kind, exactly what we give.

From Lowe’s I went directly to Sam’s Club, made a couple of purchases, and then crossed the parking lot to Taco Bell. Pulling up to the window at the fast food spot I was shocked to discover that I had lost my wallet. My first thought was to give thanks for the return of the wallet.

I drove back to Sam’s, walked in, and immediately learned that one of the door greeters had turned my wallet in to the service desk. Within minutes I had my wallet, fully intact, back in my possession and I felt overwhelmed with gratitude for the demonstration of the Universe’s benevolence.

We truly do receive, just as we give. Just as we can never cheat the Universe, we can never out-give Life.

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Serendiptous Blessing

by Elliott on February 22, 2013

I love the way life is so serendipitous. I wrote yesterday’s piece about needing some sort of Truth, something we absolutely KNOW to cling to when life appears oppressive.

This morning I was getting close to the end of The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield and I read the following:

“Forget all else, Junah, but remember this: You are never alone. You have your caddie. You have me.

More devoted than a mother, more faithful than a lover, I stand by your side always. I will never abandon you. No sin, no lapse, no crime however heinous can make me desert you, nor yield up to you any less than my ultimate fidelity and love.

Who walks his path beside me

Feels my hand upon him always.

No effort he makes is wasted,

Nor unseen, unguided by me.

Therefore, Junah, rest in me. Enter the Field like a warrior. Purged of ego, firm in discipline, seeking no reward save the stroke itself. Give the shot to me. I am your Self, the Ground of your being, your Authentic Swing.”I read this and I just smiled. “Yes” I thought, bowing silently to Steven Pressfield for bringing the TRUTH of the ONE-SELF into a golfing metaphor.

This, my friends, is the anchor that will never abandon you. Invite this into your consciousness so completely, that neither dependency, depression, nor despair can dim the LIGHT which burns inside you.

Simply give your every moment over to Life itself, seeking nothing but to be the most authentic expression of your SELF you are capable of being, and you will never be lost. I speak from experience when I tell you this. I have lost my way many time’s, in many ways. My one saving grace has been the persistent inner-knowing that I AM and always have been more than my mind comprehends.

So are You! I promise.

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Rest In Peace my Troubled Selves

by Elliott on February 21, 2013

How could someone who apparently “had everything” become so disillusioned that they would elect to commit suicide? How could their life become so tragically painful?

Short of some long-term, pain-filled illness, most of us have a hard time imagining a scenario so devastating that self-termination would be an attractive option, While I do not claim to have any special insight into the head of someone who would willingly choose death as a solution to their suffering, I do know that our minds “lie.” The world we see and perceive through the senses is an illusion. Unless we have some sort of Truth, bigger than the story contrived by the mind, to rely on when times get dark, we can become convinced that life, and in particularly our own existence, is meaningless and not worth preserving.

I have never seriously considered suicide and wouldn’t (hopefully) knowing how that would impact those I love; but I have experienced the seeming hopelessness of depression. I have seen how devastating it can be when we believe in a sense of isolation, so real that mere loneliness would be an improvement.

Our mind is absolutely amazing. It can take “what is” and twist it in ways that make life seem unbearable. To a soul, trapped by such imaginings, the escape presumably offered through death can become attractive.

Consider the words of the wise LDS minister, David O. Mckay: “The greatest battles of life are fought out daily in the silent chambers of the soul.”

It always touches me, very deeply, when I hear of someone who took their own life. Common sense cannot explain how much this saddens me. It always feels like I have lost a piece of myself, which based on my Truth, I suppose I have.

I do not recall ever noticing country celebrity, Mindy McCready prior to the recent news of her apparent suicide, nor was I aware of the brilliant Aaron Swartz prior to the news of his death; however both incidents created such pain in me it could be labeled as irrational.

Life is so very precious to me. I spend most of my time intoxicated by the beauty which is everywhere-present, and yet, I can also lose my-self, sometimes for days at a time, in the insane projection of a mind running, unchecked, in the dark forest of duality. I can empathize with the pain that appears so real. I also see the catastrophe that is created when a mind is bent on self-destruction.

Sometimes the only way to weather the inevitable trials of being human is to simply surrender. Letting go and saying to life, “Come what may!” is often the wisest path back into the Light.

I am not exactly sure why my soul has insisted on creating this writing. I feel kind of like Elton John saddened by the tragic death of Marilyn Monroe, though he “never knew her at all.” As odd as it seems I think someone needed to hear these words. Then again, perhaps I have sweated over this piece just so I could promise you and remind myself of this TRUTH: “What is REAL is Love and only Love. Everything else is a lie.”

Life is Love.

We are Love.

All that is REAL

Is LOVE.

This TRUTH

And this TRUTH alone

Is the unchanging reality

To which we must cling

When life becomes stormy.

IT is the LIGHT,

Which provides us passage

Through the darkness

Of menacing imaginings.

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Seize This Day

by Elliott on February 7, 2013

Just about eleven years ago, a friend got up as usual, took her shower, and then sat on the side of her bed. She told her husband, “I am feeling light headed.” She took two deep breaths and fell over, dead.

There was no time for her to call her daughter. There was no last kiss for her grandchildren. There was not even enough time to tell her husband goodbye, despite the fact that he was in the same room.

I look around my world today and ask myself how I would be leaving things for my family if my soul suddenly decided it was time to transition. I always have so many things awaiting my attention. It seems that there would never be a really good time to depart; at least if being “caught-up” was the determining criterion.

The death of a friend always reminds me of the temporal nature of our time together. Today, actually “this instant” is all we are guaranteed. This is why it is crucial that we fully embrace the gifts this moment offers.

I suppose it is impossible to say how I would choose to spend this day, if I really did know that it was my last. I must believe, however, that part of my plan would be to make certain all those I love know, beyond any doubt, how much they mean to me. Hopefully, my daily choices help me succeed in accomplishing this goal.

Whether we stay in this earth school for eighty more years or we leave tomorrow, it will all have been but a wink of an eye when we return to Spirit. Today I will witness everything which passes through my awareness as though I am observing it for the first time. I shall strive to emulate the marvel of a little child, awed by this miracle, which is Life.

Today is only as precious as we choose to make it; only as sacred as we believe. It is my plan to love like there is no tomorrow. I am not exactly sure what that means, but it sure sounds fun, doesn’t it?

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Spiritual But Not Religious

by Elliott on October 11, 2012

How I See Myself

For years, when asked about my religion, I have replied I was spiritual but not religious. Recently, when I was doing some research, I found this is the fastest growing answer to the question of our religiosity; people who call themselves spiritual but do not consider themselves religious.

Recently, I had made some comment, to my son, lamenting about hearing someone insist that I was a very religious person. This type of comment has always made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. My son responded, “Well dad, you are the most religious person I know.”

“How can you consider me religious?” I asked. “I very seldom go to church. Which religion do you think I am a part of?” I reaffirmed, to him, that I could agree on being spiritual but wondered how he deduced I was religious.

He said, “It’s just that all you ever read about, all you ever write about, all of your activities, including your prayer and meditation time, it is all religious.”

We agreed to disagree about what it means to be religious. Of course, in the serendipitous manner of my world, it wasn’t a week until I was having this discussion with another person who as a theology student has no problem with being called religious. She informed me that the word religious derived from the Latin word religiō which meant “respect for what is sacred or a careful pondering of all things” and that religiō probably had its foundation in the word religare, which literally meant to re-connect.

This caused me pause to reconsider what it means to be religious. I carry some baggage that defines religious as being a participant in one of man’s created churches. I essentially reject my own definition for religion, but find I can embrace my friend’s definition with no qualms.

Regardless, I think it is an interesting phenomenon that “spiritual but not religious” is the fastest growing segment of the population, when people are asked about their religious persuasions.

What does it mean to be Spiritual but Not Religious? I want to take a stab at defining this concept in my own words.

Ten Characteristics of the Spiritual but Not Religious

1) The spiritual but not religious honor and bless diversity in all of nature and in the rights of individuals to choose to worship in any manner they see fit, provided this form of worship includes some concept that each and every aspect of creation is valuable and deserves to be treated with respect and the loving kindness we seek for ourselves and our families. Most valid religions include some version of the golden rule. Any religion worth considering must hold valuable everything created by the God they choose to worship. Spiritual but not religious people seek to love one another without being commanded to. They seek to express that love because it makes them feel more alive and makes the world a better place.

2) The spiritual but not religious person prefers to find their own answers to the questions they hold about life and their role in it. While they are willing to search for these answers in sacred texts, churches, mosques, synagogues, ashrams, yoga studios, the internet, and amongst friends, new and old, they reserve the right to take the information discovered and process it through their own heartfelt wisdom and create their own manifesto of what it means to be fully human and fully spiritual.

3) The spiritual but not religious person holds themselves 100% responsible for the experience of life they are having now, and they do not surrender this authority to others; be they religious mentors, spiritual gurus, or dead saints. The truly spiritual person knows that all of nature, including everything that shows up in their life, offers the teaching they most need in their quest to live a life that honors the sacredness of “all that is.”

4) Spiritual people have no need to proselytize. They know that all the healing they accomplish in their own relationship with life, heals the entire human race. While the spiritual person is not opposed to sharing their ongoing life discoveries, they also believe that each and every person is exactly where they need to be for the lessons they have come to learn. Spiritual people, as a rule, do not believe in mistakes.

5) Spiritual but not religious people believe that the Universe is benevolent and that everything which happens carries a seed of magnificence, although it is sometimes buried by appearances.

6) Most spiritual people believe there is an underlying force, a power of goodness, from which “all there is” arises. While the spiritual person may resist calling this Source “God” it is mainly because there are so many emotionally-charged definitions which are activated when that word is uttered. Spiritual but not religious people know there is some Uniting Power which flows through all of life but they are often reluctant to give that Force a name at all.

7) Spiritual but not religious people know they have access to the One Power which flows through “all there is” and that communion with this Energy is found in the quiet; in the silence found in the gaps between the incessant chatter of the human mind. Most have found or believe that communion with this United Field is inaccessible through the human mind; it is realized as an experience, not through thought.

8) Most spiritual but not religious people know that we (all of humanity) and “all that is,” are ONE. It is this Field (even if remaining nameless) which unifies everything. Because of this Truth, this spiritual being refuses to do harm to another. They are aware that to harm another is to harm self.

9) Anyone can decide they are spiritual and live by the rules of a spiritual person. Hopefully, everyone who declares themselves to be children of God or participants in any of the world’s religions consider themselves spiritual and are able to see value in the Spiritual but Not Religious person’s choices. Truly spiritual people find all religion to be based in truth and valuable to those who honor its precepts. The spiritual but not religious person simply wants to explore any and all possible Truth, instead if blindly accepting some distilled version which may be contained within the dogma of any one religious tradition.

10) The spiritual but not religious are likely to find themselves worshiping anywhere, any time. Most, who have chosen spirituality, as their number one priority in life, seek to spend their days consciously praying without ceasing. Not praying to some deity, out there somewhere, but simply being fully present to this Now moment, open to embracing, without judging, the omnipresent beauty which is this life. Because the spiritual person promises themselves this experience, they may show up at a traditional church for a prayer or healing service on Thursday and may chant in a Kirtan on Friday. By saying “YES” to their inner guidance, they find it easy to be In-Love regardless of where their affirmation takes them. For the Spiritual but Not Religious being “In-LOVE” is the moment to moment goal of their joy-filled life.

As stated these characteristics are not limited to just the Spiritual but Not Religious people, but I believe most of these attributes to be shared by those who readily identify themselves as such. I am sure there are many people who are religious, faithful to their one chosen church/tradition, and still open and inviting to all that life (Love) has to offer. To those individuals I offer hardy congratulations, because I know they are a great blessing to their faith community, as they are to the entire human race.

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Resist Nothing. Learn from Everything.

by Elliott on October 5, 2012

Every honest examination, into the requirements of living a value-filled life, contains elements of self-honesty. We cannot hope to live a life that has meaning if we are not able to be honest with ourselves. The challenge with self-honesty is that we must be able to be quiet in order to question the assumptions and truths guiding our daily experience, which are typically unexamined.

Anyone can learn to sit and listen quietly to life. We don’t for a number of reasons:

1) We are addicted to life’s continual noisy input. We think we need continual stimulus to feel alive.

2) We fear that we are not “doing” anything when we sit quietly. Somehow we have been conditioned to believe that the life worth living is the life in which we are always doing something.

3) Finally, we are afraid to be alone with our quiet minds. We do not like the person we are with, when we are alone, or we do not like what we hear when we are the only one talking.

Listen to Toni Packer’s words about sitting quietly: “It’s simple to listen quietly, yet it’s not easy, because there is a tremendous momentum of habit to create stimulation through fantasy.” ~ Toni Packer

Living, moving, and having your being in a field of constant outer noise or inner fantasy, leaves no room for quiet contemplation. This realm of quiet is absolutely essential if we are ever to open ourselves to the possibility of change. Consider the words of Ramon Panikkar: “Contemplation is that activity which situates us in an open space from which we can observe and contribute to the course of the universe..”~ Ramon Panikkar

Contemplation, sitting in the quiet and becoming the observer, creates an opening in our hearts and heads for ideas on how we may contribute to life. We can participate with the Universe by co-creating lives that bless us and the planet or we can just exist, being victims in an out-of-control existence. If we are to create the space in which to actively participate in life, we must learn to sit in the quiet.

For those who find contemplation virtually impossible, I offer the following five suggestions:

1) Open yourself to the possibility that sitting in the quiet will be worthwhile.

2) Accept that this will take some time and patience. Like any worthwhile pursuit sitting in the quiet takes practice. It is not a talent that is immediately available, at least to most people.

3) Get comfortable. While many meditation teachers insist that proper posture improves results, I invite you to make this practice enjoyable. The more you look forward to it, the more likely you are to stick with it until you begin changing your life.

4) Don’t try to stop or in any way control your thoughts. You have no power over which thoughts are going to appear. You do have power over which thoughts you will invest in, which thoughts you will empower.

5) Become the observer of your thoughts. Realize that you are not your thoughts. They do not run you nor do they define you. You are the Power which decides which thoughts receive attention and which are allowed to rise up and pass on through with no energy.

Practice being quiet at least once a day. Early in the morning and late in the evening are best, even though the threat of falling asleep is the greatest at these times. Falling asleep causes no harm, it just means that you were nice and relaxed. Eventually you will stay awake and you will begin to notice you are able to spend more and more time in the quiet moments between your incessant thoughts. As this gap widens, so does your freedom. I will write more about that later.

Being quiet is the fastest way to discover/remember who you are and why you are here. It is the wisest investment of your time, regardless of what your chattering mind insists. Give it a try. Resist nothing. Learn from everything.

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Being Needs no Defense

by Elliott on October 3, 2012

Yesterday I read a profound piece by one of my favorite authors, Jeff Foster, entitled: Awakening From The Dream Of Nonduality

I want to share a part of Jeff’s writing here and I encourage all my readers to read his entire essay if this excerpt captures your interest as it did mine:

Life gently whispers, always, “How deeply can we meet?”

What interests me these days is not the ‘event’ or story of awakening, but how that recognition of who we really are moves in our lives. Yes, you may have no self, and yes, you may recognize that there are no others. But those are just words, right now. Tell me, how does that knowing move in your intimate relationships, with your partner, your mother, your father, your loved ones, your friends and acquaintances on Facebook and in the workplace? When someone disagrees with what you say, do you rush to defend a conceptual position, an image of yourself, or are you able to stay radically open, deeply listening from a place of nonresistance? Or do you feel hurt, and rush to hurt someone back? Do you feel attacked, and rush to defend yourself, forgetting that who you are is never an image, and doesn’t need defending? Do you remember that who you are is the vast ocean, always deeply at rest, always deeply allowing the upsurge of thoughts and feelings? Or do you fall back into some spiritual cliché, spouting words like “there is no me” or “choice is an illusion”, secretly suffering and boiling with hurt and anger but unwilling to take a fresh look at that? Have you come to conclusions, or are you willing to drop all conclusions and look again? Are you willing to drop all stories about yourself, including the story that you are awakened, and meet this moment as a dear friend to be embraced, rather than an enemy to be rejected?

Are you able to meet the one in front of you, and for a moment, not try to fix them, or heal them, or spout nondual clichés at them, or try to win some argument, proving your identity? How deeply can we meet?

While Jeff wrote this primarily for those who embrace non-dualistic teachings, I find his words can apply to everyone on any spiritual path.

I have studied mystics from all spiritual traditions for years. One common discovery those seeking enlightenment or awakening share is that enslavement to the ego must be overcome in order to experience the freedom or communion sought. True spiritual masters having experienced oneness with all of creation refuse to be subservient to the ego-driven mind. Followers of these profound teachers often glimpse the truth that the ego-based interpretation of the world is illusory, but many stop at that point in their growth. The minute the ego is given the opportunity to reassert itself, it creates a new identity and begins reconstructing a new story, which includes the recent revelations. Upon inventing this renewed sense of self, the ego immediately reestablishes its sense of separation and specialness. It begins defending its newfound truth and oftentimes seeks to share this new knowledge with all those less aware, less informed. This behavior is prevalent in spiritual neophytes but it also appears in those seekers who reach a certain plateau and believe they have arrived.

There is no arrival, there is no “getting it” to be had in the true spiritual quest. Being open, present, and aware is not some destination to be obtained; it is a moment by moment way of living. Any thought of having obtained some higher level in some imaginary spiritual hierarchy exists only in an ego-defined structure which has no basis in reality. It can exist only in a perceived reality which is illusory.

Regardless of the path you have taken, regardless of the spiritual traditions you have utilized to guide your journey, you can replace Jeff’s non-dual terminology with your own and you will recognize that the challenges of which he speaks, face us all. Being real, being authentic requires you to show up as an open vessel of Love, not as Johnny answer man or as Mr. Fix-it. Open, loving beings have no hierarchy; therefore they cannot possibly feel qualified to judge another as being in need of repair.

Being is not some mask or some charade which can be flaunted by the personality. Love never needs to defend itself, because it can never be attacked. To be attacked requires a personality to experience the attack. The personality arises from the field which is Love, not the other way around. Love simply is. It has no work to do. It is in owning this Truth that freedom is inevitable.

When the ego raises its head and says “I did this” you have no work to do. Simply BE the Love you are with your pleading self and with every ‘other’ you happen to perceive. The ego’s voice is just another thought. Love is Aware of thought but is not its servant.

Peace is yours when you remember that you are Love. Remember this Truth, in your moment to moment experience and you will never want for anything again.

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Held by the Hands of Love

by Elliott on October 2, 2012

Life is so easy when we surrender and live life in alignment with Universal Laws. At the same time it can become exceptionally challenging when we insist on having our own way. Consider these wise words from Ranier Maria Rilke:

How surely gravity’s law,
strong as an ocean current,
takes hold of even the strongest thing
and pulls it toward the heart of the world.

Each thing -
each stone, blossom, child -
is held in place.
Only we, in our arrogance,
push out beyond what we belong to
for some empty freedom.

If we surrendered
to earth’s intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees.

Instead we entangle ourselves
in knots of our own making
and struggle, lonely and confused.

So, like children, we begin again
to learn from the things,
because they are in God’s heart;
they have never left him.

This is what the things can teach us:
to fall,
patiently to trust our heaviness.
Even a bird has to do that
before he can fly.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~

(Rilke’s Book of Hours: Love Poems to God,
translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy)

A Life, lived fully, is one in which we absolutely trust that the entire Universe is conspiring to assist us in our quest to share our gifts and talents with the world. Every time I take the reins and insist that things play out the way I think they should, life just seems to laugh at me.

My life today is about doing what is right in front of me, with a joyous heart.

It is easy to know what is mine because it is the path of the greatest joy.

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Gifts from Family

by Elliott on October 1, 2012

Why do we resist life as it is?

Why is it that campaigns which promise to help us be, do, or have more, carry such great appeal?

What if we could just thoroughly investigate who we are and examine the unique set of gifts and talents we bring to the mix, instead of hoping to imitate someone else?

This weekend I attended a family reunion. I had the opportunity to meet some, previously unknown, people and to chat with others, who because of choices made by my parents and grandparents, became a part of my genealogy. Some of the people evoked warm, fond memories, and some reminded me why I never went out of my way to attend family reunions.

In all fairness we were only at the event for a little over two hours so my schedule did not allow for a lot of in-depth exploration. In the short time allowed I was unable to uncover anyone who spoke my language. Most of the ‘remember when’ dialogue just did not appeal to me. There were a couple of people I would have loved to engage, but my self-imposed time limitation did not leave room for such investigation.

All in all, I am very glad we attended. It was a remarkably perfect day in an incredibly beautiful part of the country and it offered me another opportunity to be real amongst a group of semi-strangers, each with diverse recollections of the past. Family, that group of people legally recognized as being “related” because of birth, weddings, and procreation, is a fascinating social structure. While not a perfect microcosm of society, it does, nonetheless, tell its own story by the diversity or lack thereof of the players.

I started this piece asking why we resist life as it is because I had intentions of tying this into writing by a poet I had planned to share. Because of the direction this reflection has taken, I will be dropping the other work, but the question is still valid.

My family, like many others, was not well skilled at teaching its children of their intrinsic value, just for being. Many of the conversations, I had, yesterday were about failed dreams; life’s overbearing challenges, and regrets over what could have been. Only a couple of the people spoke of the enjoyment found in everyday life. Simple love of life was not a course in the average Teters’ curriculum.

The self-help industry commands billions of dollars a year because we do not teach our children that they are enough, just as they are. We brag on their achievements, we taut their degrees, jobs, successes, etc., and we glow as we retell the awards and accomplishments they have gathered. Very seldom do we let the child or the rest of the world know that they are a blessing to the planet, to all of humanity, just because they are here, just because they are Love expressing as the unique form they are.

There is nothing wrong with changing things about ourselves because we enjoy learning or developing new or stronger skills and talents. In fact it can be a very enjoyable use of our time; but to engage in these activities from a place of lack; to hope to become more through completion of some course, can just reinforce the pain felt when we believe we are not enough, just as we are.

Each one of us comes equipped with a unique set of gifts and talents. Whether or not we ever discover these tools and whether or not we ever do anything with them, we are, regardless, the Universe’s gift to itself. We are Love, the only true power from which all of life manifests, expressing as ourselves. As such we deserve all the respect that people reserve for gods. All we are is God, regardless of whether or not we ever step into the role of becoming as we imagine God is.

We must give ourselves that respect. It is the beginning point for true self-discovery. It is ground zero for growing and sustaining a life lived in joy. Once we own the truth that we deserve love simply because we are Love we open the way for peace and harmony in all areas of our lives. Knowing such Truth changes everything, even everyday conversation with someone you haven’t seen in over twenty years. Life becomes about what is happening right here, right now, not about some fragmented story assembled about the past and carried around with the care normally devoted to treasure.

I am grateful for my cousin who worked hard to put this family gathering together. I am grateful for the cousin whose bucket list was the impetus for this birthday party. I hope she truly was surprised and I hope she feels loved as she continues her cancer adventure.

It was a most excellent day and a wonderful challenge for me to remain in Love through each new and old experience. My prayer for the family members I met and all of those unable or unwilling to attend is that you take the time to find the inherent joy which resides inside you. Once you are able to remember that you are enough, just as you are, you may learn that life is joyous, just as it is. There is nothing to resist and no one else you will ever need to be.

Being real offers so much freedom. While it may offend some people because you are no longer dependent on their approval, they will eventually be blessed by your example.

I am grateful for all who set the stage for me to practice staying in-Love and being who I Am. May the Love I Am help you, in some small way, to remember the Love you are.

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Freedom Through Loving What Is

by Elliott on September 27, 2012

When I write or talk about learning to love ‘what is’ I seem to find a lot of resistance. People hear me say that and they imagine themselves doormats to life, just lying down and letting whatever comes roll right over them. That is not what loving ‘what is’ means to me. It does not mean that I am not going to change what is mine to change; it simply means that I am not going to spend energy fighting and resisting what already is.

People have a hard time understanding this because they project the way they live their lives, always looking to the future, onto this idea and hear me say that they are not supposed to do anything.

Loving ‘what is’ sets us free of the pain born in resisting that which we have no power over. Loving something which has occurred does not imply that one welcome’s what has happened; it means that one loves peace more than the chaos which is created when we react in pain, anger, or shock.

Oftentimes we have no apparent control over what life brings. Loving ‘what is’ reclaims the power we have over how we react to life happening. It is a conscious way of living which, in essence, says: “O.k. life has happened. I had no power over that. If I deny, resist, or react to what has happened I am not choosing peace; therefore, I accept that what has happened is already in the past, and right here, right now I choose to respond in Love.”

That is quite different from loving what occurred. When I love ‘what is’ I am choosing to love myself, to love life, and to love my peaceful, joyous experience of life. From this center I can take whatever action the situation needs in a calm and compassionate manner.

One of the greatest secrets to living in peace is learning to love ‘what is.’

In closing I will leave you to consider Henry Miller’s wise words:

We invent nothing truly
We borrow and re-create

We uncover and discover..
All has been given.

As the mystics say:

We have only to ‘open’
our ‘eyes’ and ‘hearts’

To become ‘one’..
with ‘that which Is’

~ Henry Miller ~

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Secrets To Peace

You Can Never Out-Give the Universe

Serendiptous Blessing