A Few Sure Things

To recognize failure intelligently is the first step toward building success.
We all fail, often. So the question is do we profit from the experience or reflect morbidly on it?

Recognize success with thanksgiving, and build more success with gratitude.
Giving thanks for success while asking the same for all guarantees further success.

We can have anything in life we really want, as long as we are prepared to take the responsibilities that go with our desires.
Why do so many fail to demonstrate? God knows if we are prepared, ready, for He will never bring anything into our life that will overwhelm or ultimately harm us. Because of this Law Of Being any prayer that would ultimately cause the issuer or anyone else harm always remains fallow.

God is ready the moment we are.
We ready ourselves through consistent scientific prayer and meditation. Who would try to run a marathon without training or fly a plane with no instruction, yet spiritually many, if not most expect God to deliver just because they asked, kinda like asking to win a marathon while promising to train afterwards. To be clear: God can and does work miracles without prerequisite, such is the nature of Grace, but our responsibility having become aware is to Practice the Presence of God through prayer and meditation, consistently training ourselves to be of service to God and our fellows.

God always knows the answer.
God is either everything, all knowledge and power or else He is nothing. There is no middle ground.

The biggest fool of all is the man who bothers about outer things and neglects his own consciousness. If you have no time for prayer and meditation, you will have lots of time for sickness and trouble.
Toward the end of the movie Tombstone, Doc Holliday is receiving last rites from a Catholic priest as Wyatt Earp walks in. Doc comments to Wyatt “I was just investigating the mysteries of the Church of Rome. It appears my hypocrisies know no bounds.” Hypocrisy had little to do with it. We all choose the course of our lives, many putting off to tomorrow their “investigation.”  For Doc Holliday (at least in the movie), better late than never but since most cannot rely on cards and a quick gun hand for their source and security (ultimately failing Doc in the end as well), we choose the sure bet today, to Practice the Presence of God daily through prayer, selfless service and meditation.

Day 2 of the 7 Day Diet

If you are still considering whether to attempt this diet, take a moment in quiet contemplation and ask yourself why? What is there to be afraid of? This contemplation alone is worth the price of admission, remember to always be gentle with yourself, avoiding morbid reflection at all costs.

If you began the diet yesterday, today choose the subjects you will entertain in your consciousness. Measure the emotional tone, being aware at all times of what you are thinking and how it is effecting you. Now for some good news, no one does this perfectly. When you become aware that your thoughts have wandered, and they will, ask yourself quietly why you drifted into that thought and how it effected you emotionally. Often these will just be random thoughts triggered by a scent, a word or phrase or any of the multitudes of sensory inputs we experience daily, so do not give into paralysis by analysis. Remember, often a cloudy day is just a cloudy day, nothing more. If you find that perhaps there is more to it and you cannot take a moment now, briefly note the thought and when you have the time, reflect on it in gentle contemplation. There is a rule here that must be obeyed. The rule is we are never to struggle or engage in negative appraisal of these random thoughts. We simply observe what floats through our mind as dispassionately as we can; this is not an exercise in judging, only in observing and noting effects.

Cat Of Nine Tails And Dragons

To show mercy to those in pain, whether physical or emotional, is of course a quality to be cultivated. But how merciful are our thoughts? It is the secret place the The Carpenter is really speaking too with the lesson: Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 7:1-5). To help someone but hold contempt in our heart for them for any reason, demonstrates having missed the point entirely. Having embraced Living on the Spiritual Basis does not mean we ignore the contemptible acts of others, but we must not confuse the act with the actor. In truth we recognize them, praying for the individuals consciousness to be raised and in meditation seek to improve conditions. Their acts will be addressed in the proper manner, both spiritually and secularly, for we are all ultimately responsible for our own demonstration, reaping what we have sown. A more seductive form of contempt is when we decide that someone is beyond the pale, incapable of growth or spiritual understanding for any reason. The most spiritually handicapped individual’s life will improve when we shine the sunlight of the spirit, to the best of our ability at the time, on them. Sometimes the change in condition will be instantaneous and obvious, often however it will not be and that is none of our business anyway. What matters is our demonstration, for by our action we have raised not only our consciousness and the consciousness of those around us, but the entire world, for everything and everyone is connected.

 Being merciful toward others is of course laudable, but what of the mercy we fail to show to ourselves? Do you mentally (or worse, out loud) chastise yourself when a mistake is made or when some negative or objectionable thought floats through your mind? We all make mistakes and curious thoughts float up in everyones consciousness, so we must put away the mental cat of nine tails and demonstrate mercy in our own house, our consciousness. God, Our Father, wants all His children to be: happy, joyous and free. So we stop berating ourselves and thank God for knowing Him better. We can then learn from mistakes and address those curious negative thoughts that seem to appear from nowhere by turning to Him in prayer, asking if there is anything to be learned (sometimes there is, but not always, often a cloudy day is just a cloudy day) and move on. Under no pretense do we engage in a mental hunt for the cause of the discordant thought, attempting to root out the whys of it in our psyche. To do so only opens us to the deadly trap of morbid reflection and in the lexicon of the ancient cartographers: there be dragons. If there is something to be known or learned, God will make it abundantly clear, so ask Him; but don’t go looking for dragons, they bite.

Rehearsing, Rehashing And Outlining

Difficult problems seem to have a life of their own. Hard as we may try, we treat them spiritually and the next thing we know they are back in the forefront of our consciousness, dominating our thoughts. Typically these thoughts creep in silently, we only become aware of them after they have gained purchase in our consciousness. One of the most insidious ways this happens is through outlining. The world teaches that we should think things through, weigh pros and cons, talk it out, but just as “the grouch and the brainstorm are the dubious luxury of normal men” so is outlining. This generally starts out innocently enough, just weighing those pros and cons, talking it out etc but in short order we begin outlining how a situation or trouble should work out, in essence telling the universe how to solve our problems, on our terms of course. If you don't think you do this, then you have never "rehearsed" or "rehashed" a conversation."If they say this than I will say that and then I will have them" or "I should have said this when they said that and that would have shut them up." Oh, this holds true as well for those one sided conversations with radio and TV personalities who tick us off as well.

This type of outlining builds up our expectations and feeds our resentments for “the level of my serenity is directly proportional to my expectations.” Living on the Spiritual Basis our expectations and resentments are placed in God’s hands and on His shoulders, so when we find ourselves outlining we stop as soon as we become aware and thank God for knowing Him better. To quiet the mind we repeat some simple set prayers like “Be still and know that I am God”, “There is no power greater than God” or simply “God is with me.” When I ran the world I outlined constantly, for it needed my help. Living on the new basis, I leave the running of the world, and my life, in His hands for He does a much better job of it than I ever did, for today I have ceased fighting everyone and everything and know in my heart of hearts that “God is with me.”

Consciousness Building

        When we purchase something that requires assembly, it generally comes with instructions. I purchased a teapot recently and inside were instructions, for a teapot! Now the instruction sheet for that Christmas morning bicycle years ago was considerably longer, and I still maintain wrong, both the bike and teapot instruction sheets had numbered steps, the teapot two with the additional warning that hot water is, well, hot, the bicycle four hundred and fifty seven, in Latin.

      Our consciousness requires assembly as well; the question is what “instruction” sheet we follow. With the exception of some notable examples directly touched by the Divine, we build our consciousness, for good or ill, step by step by the actions we take and the thoughts we entertain, our level of awareness and understanding waxing and waning dependent on what we say, do, consider and act upon, experience building upon experience, good and bad. Habits of thinking and living do not change by simply assenting to them as needing to be changed; it requires action and perseverance on our part. To borrow from Wayne Dyer: “Habit is habit, and not to be flung out the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.”

     Consider those who suffer from addiction. Many who initially recover, seemingly having cast their “habit” out the window, new instructions embraced, then relapse and are often baffled as to why. They are fooled by the delusion those years of thinking and living in the addiction will disappear in a twinkling because the alcohol and drugs are out of their system. In reality the “instruction” sheet they have been following for years is all about addiction and is well memorized. It will take years of contrary action and consistent vigilance of motive, of following a completely new set of directions to remain free of their addiction.

     Let’s look at a different way. Many of my peers, including myself, are a little rounder than they would like. Now the weight didn’t appear over night. I didn’t go to bed with a twenty year olds twenty eight inch waist and wake up with a fifty something’s forty. Yet when it comes to losing weight, typically if it can’t be dropped in a week or two we lose interest and fall back into old habits, patterns of thinking. Diets are hard; require real long-term change and different thinking patterns, while cheeseburgers are easy, requiring only fries.

    We choose the path, the instruction sheet we follow. The choice is always ours.

    Our spiritual development is a mental diet, we choose the directions to follow, the nourishment we ingest, and though eating healthy is important, a healthy mental diet is of infinitely more consequence than waist size. Years of fuzzy thinking, false belief and fear driven action do not disappear overnight, the process continues for our lifetime and though our consciousness is eternal, assembly is required, so what instruction sheet will you follow?

How Much Faith Is Enough?

        You have probably heard the simile of the mustard seed, that all that is required to progress spiritually is a mustard seeds worth of faith. The mustard seed is one of smallest seeds in nature, yet a strong, resilient plant with amazing properties springs forth from this speck of creation. So it is with us as well. By simply considering or thinking on faith, we have enough faith to demonstrate. To concern ourselves with any supposed “lack” of faith is the adversary, self-centered fear, working to keep us locked in the bondage of self. So we pray to the best of our ability today, and that is all that is required of us to progress, for all prayer has power. When in the grip of trouble the only prayer we may be able to utter is “God help me”, which is a powerful statement in faith, and is sufficient onto its self.

     If you are considering, thinking about faith, you have the mustard seed in your hand. From this small beginning a powerful and vibrant relationship with the only true source will grow in the garden of your consciousness, in your heart of hearts. Water it with prayer, tend it with meditation and service to the best of your current ability, for God will never ask of us to demonstrate beyond our current understanding and that understanding is enough, just for today.

“ONE DAY AT A TIME”

“Live, one day at a time.” This simple saying popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous has become part of the daily consciousness, but what does it really mean? Living on the Spiritual Basis the meaning is simple and profound: The only time we can be present for God, the only time we can stand in the presence of God, the only time God can be present in our lives is in the present moment. So be present for God, for God is always present for us. Yesterday a memory, tomorrow a promise, today, this moment the only reality. Living on this basis, the Spiritual Basis, all the presents God has for us appear in our lives.

AHA!

         Living on the Spiritual Basis we have ceased fighting everyone and everything and because of this the obvious destructive behaviors: addiction, lying, unfaithfulness, dishonesty (cash register variety) fall from us in due course. To be clear: we are not “cured” of these behaviors but we have been given a daily reprieve and if we choose to act out in these areas we are clear that a price will be extracted. As our path continues to unfold more subtle variations of destructive behavior come into view. The individual who has been in numerous failed relationships finally see that although the names and faces changed they picked essentially the same person again and again or they may hate their job, leaving one for another only to find the same conditions at the next, finally realizes there is a common denominator in their disharmony. They may have a bookshelf full of self help tomes; all of which were read and embraced at the time, yet are unable to fully remember the message, realizes that nothing is gained by superficial inspection and half hearted action, all of these are “AHA” moments.

     These moments happen when we are ready, (usually accompanied with a metaphorical slap to the forehead) having first done the necessary foot work, for no amount of wishing or affirmations without action can raise someone’s consciousness a single iota. Living with raised consciousness today when we find ourselves in disharmony the path is clear, we stop focusing on the perceived problem or difficulty and give it to God. No Pollyanna here, we speak to God in prayer specifically on the issue at hand and ask to be shown the correct course of action, we thank Him for knowing Him better and refuse to consider the issue again in anything other than spiritual light. When the issue attempts to drag us back into disharmony, i.e. morbid reflection, we stop and turn back to God affirming that it is now in His hands and is no longer our concern. This may be uncomfortable, perhaps even feeling silly and pointless when we first begin employing this new strategy for living, this is natural, trusting and relying upon God takes consistent work and dedication on our part, but to succeed we must persevere. In time this will become second nature, disharmony becoming an occasional visitor, no longer a roommate. AHA.  

The Road Back

        When we “decide” to dwell in the negative, embracing morbid reflection, we place ourselves in a position to be harmed. Typically the thinking begins innocently with a news story, a letter, cough, phone call, e-mail or text, some random physical pain or tossed off comment often from a stranger that for no good reason we begin to dwell on. As we roll the thought around in our consciousness, beginning to entertain its negative aspects, we surrender ourselves willingly to another trip down morbid reflection lane, volunteering for what inevitably follows. Our internal dialog outlines all the negative, possibly bad/horrible things that can/will happen if our fears are realized. As we continue down the path, spiraling deeper into despair, screwing ourselves deep into the fertile ground of depression and self based fear we often make ourselves physically ill. Additionally, remember the old adage: misery loves company? Now we can sink even deeper by eliciting comments and support from those of a like mind, fellow willing travelers who always answer the bell when morbid reflection calls.

       Now the path leading away from this thinking is well lit, but requires conscious effort on our part. When we become mindful that we are drifting into morbid reflection or are already in its embrace, we stop and immediately turn to God in prayer and visualize the Presence of God where the trouble seems to be, affirming God’s love and guidance, rejecting the negative, holding this truth in the forefront of our consciousness: Nothing, no problem or seemingly hopeless condition can come into our lives that God cannot change or remove completely, if we are about His business, not ours. I can’t, he can. Let Him.

         If you are new to Living on the Spiritual Basis this will feel odd and somewhat clumsy when first employed. In time it will become second nature and in truth is the only path away from morbid reflection and back to health and peace of mind. Remember: progress, not perfection. The only thing we can do perfectly, spiritually, is when we recognize we are traveling in the wrong direction is to alter course back to truth, back to God, away from fear based living and thinking.

Words To Live By

         Easy does it! Work hard but don’t make hard work of it. Has worry or being so tense a loud noise makes you jump ever improved or changed the outcome of any undertaking? Not in my experience. Take all prudent steps and indicated action but when this is accomplished, stop. Nothing positive can be had by redoing or rehashing something that was already well done. Worry and being tense are simply forms of fear, for truly, what is there to be afraid of? Living on the Spiritual Basis we cannot serve two masters, we are in the world but not of it. We are all children of God, loved beyond measure, eternal in every aspect that matters. We keep our head where our hands are and address the tasks at hand, and when done; we leave the results to God, reminding ourselves that, though eternal, we live one day at a time.