Conscious Breathing

Becoming aware of your breath forces you into the present moment---the key to all inner transformation.  Whenever you are conscious of the breath, you are absolutely present---Eckhart Tolle

            Being conscious of our breath is very important, and deep breathing is a wonderful tool for centering.  The breath is one of the greatest, most natural antidepressants available to us.  Our breath is the pathway to our God-center; it can help us to quiet our fast-paced minds.  It can refresh us like cool water on a hot summer day.

            When we get upset, the shallowness of our breathing causes a buildup of toxins, which can create a feeling of tension and grief.  Take a deep breath and slowly release it; do this three times to release tension, and to become fully present.  Watch each breath, following it down to the opening of your lungs.

            My personal prescription for tension, fear, depression or confusion is a brisk walk.  A walk around the block or inside your office building can help to clear your mind and body of toxins and will bring grater clarity, and an awakening of the brilliance that lives within you.  Try conscious breathing.  It’s free!  It will free you and your mind for greater clarity.  Have fun!

In this moment, allow the breath of life to be breathed in to you.  Welcome the calmness as you follow the fresh air into your lungs. 

Our Authentic Self

Self-importance hurts us, limiting us to the narrow world of our likes and dislikes.  We end up bored to death with ourselves and our world.  We end up never satisfied.---Pema Chodron

Finding our authentic self is a process of opening, learning and uncovering our unique expression.  The more we honor and embrace our individuality, who we are and all that we are, the more fully we are able to discover the true holiness of our lives.

Accepting everything we think and feel, laughing at our quirks and idiosyncrasies, allows us to go deeper into uncovering the origin of true self. 

If you view life as working against you, thinking that you are not enough, you can be left feeling empty and afraid.  Comparing yourself to others and feeling as though you are not as good or worthy means you are separate from the greater truth.

Within each of us is a sacred essence, and the tip of the iceberg we see is only a small part of our greatness.  The authentic self is the majesty of Good, alive within each and every one of us.  We are filled with a divine intelligence, and our job is to uncover our uniqueness within it.

The purity that lives within each one of us is our quest.

Stories

Live out of your imagination, not your history---Stephen Covey

We tend to live in our “stories”…those negative events of our lives we just can’t let go of.  It’s easy to repeat the stories of how we have been cheated or victimized by life.  In repeating these stories to anyone who is willing to listen to them, we keep the negative event alive.

If we truly want life to be different, we must give up our stories.  As long as we keep watering those experiences, we give life to the pain they created.  I believe that if you are stuck in your past story, it keeps you from seeing the self-destructive patterns and habits that you’re engaged in the present.

 We keep our stories alive by believing our old experiences are all that we deserve.  It is clear to me that when we are conscious of our negative self-talk, we can begin to find freedom from negative patterns.  It’s essential to develop a compassionate understanding of who we are. 

          The heartaches of the past are the devils of the present and the creators of evil in the future.  When we live in the past, we no longer can create in the present.  We live on what was, continuously watching old reruns over and over.

          Since the present is where we create our future, we choose our thoughts carefully and bless and release the power of the past. 

We give thanks for the power that operates in us now---DJ

Spiritual Awareness

You have been invited to meet the Friend.

Hafiz, I Heard God Laughing

          I have become completely convinced that our destinies as human beings are to become spiritually self-aware.  I am not  talking that  this awareness as something that is delivered up by any particular religion, as much as I believe that our individual, spiritual journey is what brings us light.

          I also believe that we have come to a time in human development when we must become spiritually involved and evolved.  If we don’t, we may become dangerous.  What could be more spiritually unaware than killing other people in God’s name?

          It is not for us to walk away in uncaring apathy; nor can we waste time in anger and dismay when we have at hand the best of all inspirational tools:  prayer, meditation, and acts based on love.  Talk and prayer begin healing, but healing is promoted through self-acceptance, forgiveness and acts of humanity.

          We have gifts to bring, the gifts of ourselves, our love and our service to life.  We don’t need permission to behave in this way.  We simply choose it, do the best we can and know that light is behind us and before us.

We have a mission, a spiritual mandate, and this is to bring the best of ourselves, our thoughts and our actions as our gifts to life.  So to become spiritually evolved, we must become involved.

Happy Independence Day

The law of God is one of liberty and not one of bondage.

          TODAY,  is Independence Day in the United States.  It is the day we Americans celebrate our independence and freedom from Great Britain.  We commemorate this day for the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.   Moreover, it has become a time of deep reflection, introspection, and gratitude.

          As independent citizens, we can choose to raise the mantel high for liberty.  Collectively, we can demonstrate the liberty of celebration as a great experiment in a culturally diverse melting pot.  The country’s independence came about because of a specific intention of its people to gain it.  The colonies’ residents knew that no matter the odds, if they were single-minded about it they would succeed; they set forth a declaration to claim it, and they achieved it.

          These same steps are required to gain one’s independence from an habitual situation, whether it is insufficient money, poor health, troubling relationships, addiction or another undesirable experience.

          First you need to know what you want.  What would independence look and feel like to you?  It helps to write about it, putting color and emotions into the new awareness of one’s independence.    We know good is happening invisibly, through our attitude and thought.  Continually giving thanks for your good helps to speed it along.  Claim your independence with vigor and joy. 

          The word “liberty” forms an acronym such as this:  Life In Bold Energetic Readiness To Yield.    When living life as a bold, energetic readiness to yield, there will be more cognizant opportunities to express ourselves because of our willingness to step aside and observe the flow of life in, through, and around us. 

Freedom is priceless.  Choose independence as your experience today and keep your focus on good.

Happy 4th of July



And God Bless our Military who are protecting our Country for our Freedom.
Thanks to them, and their sacrifices, we can celebrate the 4th of July.

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE
FLAG,
OF THE UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA ,
AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR
WHICH IT STANDS,
ONE
NATION UNDER GOD,
INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY
AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!

Suffering

And that Pattern upon your soul Has the signature of God.

Hafiz, I Heard God Laughing

          Why do we suffer so much?  Do we think that somehow parlayed grief and pain will make us more holy, more acceptable to God?  I know that some people believe this but I believe that on the other hand, that “there cannot be a Law in the Universe which demands evil, lack, limitation and the experience of unhappiness to provide shades to magnify Its glory.”  It would seem a contradiction in terms to think that wholeness is dependent upon unhappiness.  Besides, who needs a God that demands human suffering when we are so good at inflicting this upon ourselves?

          Pain is a part of the human condition, and often it comes without warning.  It can be difficult to control the pain that comes with death, loss and private feelings of betrayal, but we can control our responses to the unwanted intrusions into our well-being.

          Soul-trying times are our opportunities to dig more deeply into our spiritual practices.  Prayer is always at hand, and we can contact others to engage in prayer for us when we aren’t thinking clearly.  Suffering, however, is another layer of pain we sometimes add on when we forget our spiritual natures.  This, too, can be healed, but it takes a special willingness on our part.

The Divinity within us is our true life.  It cannot be otherwise.  It leads us; it trails us; it holds us in the arms of spiritual love as we willingly release all pain to the presence of the God within us for healing.

 

Motherhood of Spirit

Today is Mother’s Day, and our mothers have been remarkable persons in their own right as well as because they had us.  If you who are reading this are yourself a mother, then you have an exquisite relationship with another human being that no one not having had that privilege can fully comprehend.  So we honor mothers.  But there’s even more to it:  an archetypal mothering aspect present in the Universe that can be drawn upon and used by anyone anywhere, and that shows up undefined by gender.  Mother-love is nurturing, unconditional, and kindly yet fierce.  If you don’t feel you had enough of that from the woman who birthed you, or long for more of it, it’s still there for in the “ethers” if you will open your self to accept it from woman, man , or both, or neither. 

‘Mother/Father God’ or ‘Father/Mother God’ is an expression that some of us us because we feel the deity is androgynous.  We don’t really consider it to be a being at all, but beingness itself, so It, having both male and female qualities, is a natural as either sunlit and moonlit qualities, or terrestrial and celestial ones.  Deity is infinite and thus contains all.  We may choose to have Its parent-like aspects stand out because these are particularly intimate and special to us in our human condition.

TODAY, and everyday, we can experience the nurturing and giving nature of the Universe we inhabit.  From every direction, unconditional love and encouragement arrive, cheering us on to be fully who we are by glorifying that Indwelling God who is the Heavenly Father and the Cosmic Mother of all. 

A Spark of Bright Fire

May, clad in cloth of gold,/Cometh this way;/The fluting of the blackbirds/Heralds the day.

Raven Grimassi, Beltane

          On the eve of May Day sits the old Celtic celebration of Beltane (“bright fire”).  Its origins in the distant past have to do with the start of the summer breeding and crop-growing seasons, as well as marking the cross-quarter point between the vernal equinox and summer solstice.

          At the back end of the Celts’ year came Samhain, which has become our Halloween.  On both occasions bonfires were (and sometimes still are) lit on hillsides across Scotland and Ireland, and both occasions were believed to be times when the veil between worlds was especially thin.  Not only that, but in those Northern climes the late-April weather was finally becoming favorable to everyone getting outside and romping around.

          Events such as these, from every age and people, have imprinted something powerful, life-affirming and obviously long-lasting onto the collective consciousness of all humankind.  Even in their heyday they were regarded as containing many layers of meaning and metaphor.  So instead of this just being another day at the midpoint of another week for you or me, we might choose to consecrate it into a celebration of long light and greater warmth, imagining ourselves emerging from a lengthy hibernation into the welcoming green of deep spring.

Today on April 30th, let the ancient fire be rekindled in you.  Draw upon this feeling and fan it into something tangible and continual in your life today.

Friends And Family

This was sent to me from a friend.  Now you can send it to your friends & family.

One day a woman's husband died, and on that clear, cold morning, in the warmth of their bedroom, the wife was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't "anymore". 
No more hugs, no more special moments to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat, no more "just one minute." 

Sometimes, what we care about the most gets all used up and goes away, never to return before we can say good-bye, say,..."I love you." 
 
So while we have it, it's best we love it, care for it, fix it when it's broken and heal it when it's sick. 

This is true for marriage.....old cars(sometimes)... children with bad report cards, dogs with bad hips, and aging parents and grandparents..(especially since I am one of those!).

We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. 
 
Some things we keep -- like a best friend who moved away or a sister-in-law after divorce. There are just some things that make us happy, no matter what. 
 
Life is important.....like people we know who are special.. and so, we keep them close! 
 
I received this from someone who thought I was a 'keeper'! (imagine that!?)

Now it's your turn to send this to all those people who are "keepers" in your life,  if you feel that way.

Suppose tomorrow should be the morning you or I never wake up,.....do all your friends know you love them? 
 
Let every one of your friends know you love them. 

 
Live today because today is the only 'present'  that we get,....and tomorrow is not promised. 

Law of Logical Sequence

I am not sorry when sun and rain make April/my life is the life of the reaper and sower…

E.E. Cummings, “Religious Leanings”

          It is Spring in our hemisphere, and we are surrounded by nature’s profusion.  The earth is producing that which was planted deliberately by man or by default nature; existing plants were free to reseed the ground and yield up pretty much what they had before.  In our lives, it’s all seasons happening at once, and in consciousness we are always planting something.

          I have read about the law of attraction, by which we cultivate certain attitudes and expectancies and then draw into our lives corresponding conditions and circumstances.  Lesser known, but just as powerful, is the law of repulsion, by which things undesired do not show up.

          In my gardening metaphor the creative process is planting (the setting out to attract), and there is reaping (or gathering in what was attracted), but there is also weeding, fertilizing and alongside the determination of which crops to plant, the decision of which not to.  The selection of one seed over another is an intellectual exercise, but the actual planning is emotional.  Therefore we want to place more of our heart-energy around what we do desire than around what we don’t.  Thus our “repulsion” is free of rancor:   what we don’t select is fine and beautiful, and it’s just not for us today.

Today select your attitudes, desires and opinions and plant them securely in the fertile soil of your mind.  Be free to uproot and set aside those state of mind you believe no longer serve you.

The Feast of Fools

Mix a little foolishness with your prudence, it’s good to be silly at the right moment.

Horace, Odes

  TODAY is April Fool’s Day, which makes it a good day to ponder foolishness in a positive way.  Long ago a fool/jester often worked for the monarchy, and was not thought to be a dupe or stooge.  In his duties as a court jester, he may have told stories and done some acrobatics.  He may have also provided sage counsel to the king, offering the monarch a fresh perspective on policies and strategies.

 
The job description for a jester in modern times might be similar to that of a “political creatively consultant,” or someone who thinks outside the box.  In a deck of Tarot cards, The Fool appears in a stronger position that the Emperor or Empress or any other apparent authority.  It is numbered zero and can be used much like an ace in modern card games.

Tarot cards are a late-medieval delivery system of metaphysical principles.  The Fool’s distinctive place therein suggests ageless lessons in spiritual psychology:  lighten up, and listen to more than just the accumulated information of the intellect.  Circumscribe what you think you know with the perspective of the never-ending intelligence that is expressing through you, and answers will emerge pertinent to the here and now that are stunning in their clarity.

Today, I hope you smiled at the passing parade of people, place and things in and through your life.  I did.  This will lift your spirits and broadens your outlook.  Fresh ideals for achieving your goals unfurl in your mind.

Season of Nonviolence

JANUARY 30^TH marked the beginning of the Season for Nonviolence, the national 64-day campaign dedicated to demonstrating that non-violence is a powerful way to heal, transform, and empower our lives and our communities. 

Inspired by the memorial anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, the Season calls each of us to activism, but it is a call that invites us to act from the center of consciousness that knows it genesis as the divine spark of heaven inside each individual. 

It is through our consciousness that we show up as greater expressions of life.  It is an awakened consciousness that is able to see the perfection, the Divine reality, in each situation in spite of the conditions. 

The state of perfect simplicity or the independence of solitude in the midst of the crowd is the state of inner peace, heaven within, the Kingdom.  It is the source of our awakening.  This awakening pushes forward, expressing through each individual’s action. 

Too often, taking action has been associated with an angry energy  that is the opposite of the change it desires to create.  When actions come from the consciousness of peace, of awakened doing, it captures the power of transformation.  It would be wonderful if a group of beings or persons should arrive on earth that was for something and against nothing.  This would be the summum bonum (highest expression) of human organization.

I invite each of you to contemplate where you are called to action.

How can you show up as an agent of change in your world, centered in the spirit of nonviolence and awakened purpose, so that our light shines and makes a difference? 

In that spirit of action or that call to consciousness of peace, together we will create “a world that works for everyone.”

How To Plant Your Garden

First, you Come to the garden alone, While the dew is still on the roses....

FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING,

PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS:
1. Peace of mind
2. Peace of heart
3. Peace of soul

PLANT FOUR ROWS OF SQUASH:
1. Squash gossip
2. Squash indifference
3. Squash grumbling
4. Squash selfishness

PLANT FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE:
1. Lettuce be faithful
2. Lettuce be kind
3. Lettuce be patient
4. Lettuce really love one another

NO GARDEN IS WITHOUT TURNIPS:
1. Turnip for meetings
2. Turnip for service
3. Turnip to help one another

TO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN WE MUST HAVE THYME:
1. Thyme for each other
2.. Thyme for family
3. Thyme for friends
4. Thyme for GOD!

WATER FREELY WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH LOVE.. THERE IS MUCH FRUIT IN YOUR GARDEN BECAUSE YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

Love and the Golden Rule

Love is the principle at the foundation of each of the world’s great traditions.  It is expressed as the Golden Rule and is the chord of truth that vibrates within each soul.  Here are some quotes from the great traditions or religions that express the principle of love.

Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.  BUDDHA

What is hateful to you; do not to your fellow man.  That is the entire law; all the rest is commentary.  JUDAISM

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  CHRISTIANITY

Blessed is he who blesses his brother.  BAHA’I

No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.  ISLAM

Do not wrong or hate your neighbor.  For it is not he who you wrong, but yourself.  NATIVE AMERICAN SPIRITUALITY

Don’t create enmity with anyone as God is within everyone.  SIKHISM

Regard your neighbor’s gain as your own gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss.  TAOISM

Be charitable to all beings, love is the representative of God.  SHINTO

The Dali Lama sums up this wisdom of the ages in a simple statement:

“My religion is kindness”

Heaven is at Hand

It is not a matter of when you reach heaven; it is a matter of when the Kingdom of Heaven reaches you.

Sam Davis

Throughout the ages, all the mystics have taught the same thing.  The 'kingdom of heaven is at hand' and is here now, but this kingdom must be recognized.  The recognition is a mental act. 

Immortality is here now.  We are as immortal and spiritual as we will ever be, and we need to recognize that now.  We can make heaven on earth.  We have learned all we need to from pain and suffering.  So we can put our burdens down.  Ernest Holmes wrote, “Somewhere the walls of experience must be broken down.  We must learn that we can transcend our previous experiences; that beyond the finite is the infinite.”

There is a beautiful fable about a blacksmith who worked hard all his life.  Each time the Angel of Death comes for him, he asks for more time to help his friends and neighbors.  Finally, he is ready, and when the angel appears he says, “I am ready to go live in the kingdom of heaven.”  The angel laughs and responds, “Where do you think you have been all these years?”

We touch heaven when we make elegant choices, options that tend toward honor, courage, and truth. When we make such choices, we bring the Divine into the presence of the universe and heaven is all around.

Heaven is not a place we go to, but a place we grow to when we help the ones we love and love the ones we help.  

HEIGHTENED PERSPECTIVE

HAPPY FRIENDSHIP WEEK TO YOU!!!!!! Please Read all the way to the bottom: If you will take the time to read these. I promise you'll come away with an enlightened perspective. The subjects covered affect us all on a daily basis: They're written by Andy Rooney, a man who has the gift of saying so much with so few words. Enjoy........ I've learned .... That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.. I've learned .... That when you're in love, it shows. I've learned .... That just one person saying to me, 'You've made my day!' makes my day. I've learned .... That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world. I've learned .... That being kind is more important than being right. I've learned .... That you should never say no to a gift from a child. I've learned .... That I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way. I've learned .... That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with. I've learned .... That sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand. I've learned ..... That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult. I've learned .... That life is like a roll of toilet paper.  The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes. I've learned ..... That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for. I've learned ..... That money doesn't buy class. I've learned .... That it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular. I've learned ... That under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved. I've learned ..... That to ignore the facts does not change the facts.. I 've learned .... That when you plan to get e ven with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you. I've learned ..... That love, not time, heals all wounds. I've learned .... That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am. I've learned .... That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile. I've learned .... That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them. I've learned ... That life is tough, but I'm tougher. I've learned ... That opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.   I've learned .... That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere. I've learned ... That I wish I could have told my Dad that I love him one more time before he passed away.   I've learned .... That one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them. I've learned .... That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. I've learned .... That when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life. I've learned .... That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it. I've learned .... That the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done. To all of you....  It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends & family how much you care. This sent to me by a friend.

Friendly & Welcoming Universe

Life is not so short but that there is always time enough for courtesy.

---Ralph Waldo Emerson

          A few years ago, I heard a discussion about the fact that this is a friendly and welcoming universe.  Thanks to spiritual practices, I wholeheartedly agree.

          Switching from fear to faith in regards to humanity is rarely an instant change.  Here is a four-step technique to maintain a friendly and welcoming attitude toward life.

          The First part is to make eye contact with everyone.  It is a gift to take the time to really look at someone, to see the color and beauty of their eyes, to acknowledge their uniqueness.

          The Second thing is smile at people, hoping it may lighten someone’s mood.

          The Third step is to learn and use the names of people you interact with regularly.  They become more than just the clerk, the mailman, or the coffee vendor.

          And lastly, make an effort to compliment everyone and thank them for a job well done.  There is something in every interaction that is a blessing---find it and point it out.  The effect of these simply techniques on others is a joy to behold.

          These are all practices---the more we do them, the easier they become and the greater are the rewards.  Rarely have I practiced these techniques and left an interaction dissatisfied.  Also, if you consistently practice these four steps, you will receive nothing less than great service everywhere you go.

To live in a friendly and welcoming universe, show your interest in another with eye contact, smiling, speaking their name, and expressing appreciation.  Be grateful for each unique expression of Spirit.

Keys to the Garden.

The difference between everyday living and in living in ….moments of ecstasy is the difference between being outside and inside the Garden

Joseph Campbell

The mystics from nearly every faith tradition tell us that heaven on earth is all around us and always has been.  We can see it, they say, when we awaken from our habitual absorption in self-centered fantasy and begin to experience the world as it really is.  Four steps can achieve this awakened perception:

• Stop thinking---it’s not that hard for a few minutes.
• Heighten awareness---as if there were a lion prowling outside your house and all your senses were acutely intensified
• Experience the world exactly as it is---to see, touch, and listen in an intensely sensory way
• Come into the divine Presence---that is, become consciousness of consciousness itself, for pure consciousness (cleanse of mind, time and self) is, in fact, divine consciousness 

Achieving these simple shifts in consciousness allows one to move from conceptual to perceptual awareness, that is, from a subjective world created by thought and imagination (variously called maya, delusion, or psychological projection) to a pristine, timeless, infinitely beautiful, precious and joyful, loving and holy Reality all around us. 

When you examine anything with this kind of intense and purified consciousness, you begin to notice exquisite dimensions of light, color, texture, and form overlooked in our customary impatient and egocentric awareness.  In fact, you are looking directly into heaven on earth:  the ordinary world transfigured by mystical consciousness into divinity itself.  In this way, even problems and emotional distress become doorways into the divine world.

John Robinson

Finding Heaven HERE

I have been getting a lot of emails concerning my statement and what I mean by “The kingdom of heaven is within” and other words from Jesus “The father’s kingdom is spread out upon the earth and people do not see it.” 

          I know that the daily demands of parenting, commuting, work, and bills, how is it possible to find heaven here?  Let’s go to heaven on earth right now.  With a gentle shift of heart and mind through daily practices, you can realize heaven on earth.

          Find a relatively peaceful and pleasant place to stop everything, disconnect from people, phones, and tasks, and be quite for a few minutes.  Breathe deeply, quiet your mind, and downshift from the world’s hectic pace.

          Make a conscious effort to create a sacred space.  Meditate, pray, play soothing music or read a something that touches you spiritually.  Experience the Divine in whatever ways feel most natural to you.

          Now stop thinking, heighten your awareness, and begin examining the world as it is, without the need for names, ideas, judgments, or beliefs.  Just look at whatever is around you and see it as if for the very first time.  Notice the colors, patterns, textures, and spatial arrangements of things, and how light and your own movement subtly affect their appearance.  Open your senses to explore the world around:  see, listen, touch, smell, taste.  Be fascinated and you will quickly discover that the world is not what you think.

          Bring love and joy to whatever you experience.  You already know how to love; love everything unconditionally in this moment and see how the world changes before your eyes.

          Now silently repeat, “This is heaven.”  As you do this, notice how your perception and feelings deepen.  You are now looking directly into heaven on earth.  But don’t start thinking about this idea or the mind will hijack the new seeing.  Stay in this thought-free and awakened consciousness for a least several minutes.

          When you feel refreshed, renewed, and happy, resume your life at a slower and more conscious pace.  While you may lose this heavenly state of consciousness when things speed up, you can always come back by repeating these steps.  More importantly, this kind of seeing will progressively transform your world until you begin to see heaven everywhere.

          The Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world as we know it in 2012, Native Americans such as the Hopi say we are now at the end of the final and most corrupt stage of western civilization, astrologers describe the present era as a transition from dualistic perception to a new unitary consciousness, and a collective hunger for social and political change sweeps across America.  What does all this mean?  It means that the human species is on the threshold of transcending the old patriarchal world order and waking up to the experience of heaven on earth here and now, and this awaking consciousness will change everything.

          We don't have to die to go to Heaven.  Heaven is already here!  Seeing it does not require some new or clairvoyant aptitude, but instead simply ceasing the habit of viewing things through the distorting lens of thought and fantasy and seeing the world exactly as it is.  We can discover that this world, right where we are, has become an infinitely precious and beautiful mystery saturated with the intimacy of the Divine’s presence.  It would be the Garden once again.

          The love and happiness arising from this perceptual shift would literally change the world.   

Happy New Year Resolution

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner
like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food
that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.
Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33 Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.
Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29 Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.
Your friends will. Stay in touch.
Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their
journey is all about..
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control.
Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with
His/her mistakes of the past.
That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.
Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and
fade away like algebra
class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...

Advice Column

I will be posting some of the emails that I have received over the last month.  Please when sending me an email, don't mention names or places.  I can not post your emails on line.  I do not change your emails and they will be posted just as you send them.  This will be for advice only and not a bash blog.  All comments will be screened by me or one of my staff members. 
 Comments made on askdrdj's blog or any forums or website linked to this blog do not necessarily represent those of the askdrdj's staff, its sponsors, its advertisers, or its readers.

Thank you and have a Happy New Year!

The Narcissistic Sociopath

Dear DrDJ

I can’t go into too much detail about this, but I am dealing with one of these characters  a Narcissistic Sociopath right now. All I can say if you run across these people in your life is run, don’t walk, right away from them as fast as you can.

This person is simply out and out harmful to anyone in her path. She has done tremendous harm to alot of people in the past, and if we continue to deal with them, they will continue to try to inflict, or will inflict, harm on you.

I think they can’t help it, but I’m also wondering if they are incurable. Most people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder cannot be helped. Why? They do not wish to be cured, see nothing wrong with themselves, and never will.

A few can be cured, but it’s not easy. You can’t change a tiger into a lion. You can’t change your basic personality. This is a law of psychology. For all personalities, there exists a pathological side and a healthy side. For NPD, the healthy side is called Confident Personality. For APD, the healthy side is called Aggressive Personality. Neither are optimal, but truly healthy personalities are either exceedingly rare or possibly nonexistent.

There are varying degrees of narcissism. First is the narcissism that any healthy person has. Then we start getting into varying degrees of narcissism. At some point, you have to say someone has narcissistic traits, or is a narcissist. That doesn’t mean NPD. As one starts getting more pathological, we start moving into NPD, Narcissistic Personality Disorder. This is an extremely serious condition in which the individual ends up causing harm to most of the significant people in their life. As I said above, get all the harmful narcissists out of your life.

Pure sociopaths pretty much don’t give a damn whether anyone likes them or not. I don’t think they need attention or admiration either – I imagine they could care less about that too. I doubt if criticism bothers them much either. Most sociopaths seem to smile, laugh or glibly explain away any criticism directed at them. That, or they ignore it altogether.

The sociopath is not hurt by your criticism because there’s nothing there to hurt. It’s like yelling at a grizzly bear in a cage. The bear just looks up at you like, “Screw you, human,” and goes back to whatever he was doing.

If the sociopath feels that the criticism may harm them or thwart their plans, they may become alarmed, because these are machines dedicated to carrying out their plans. Thwarted plans don’t get carried out. Not good. So criticism simply spins the sociopath into a dizzying performance of lying, more lying, lies upon lies layered upon more lies, show-business style performance, the Mother of All Personal Charm Shows, on and on.

The “show” is so mesmerizing, baffling, confusing and charming that you can barely understand what’s happening, but a lot of times, you end up going along with the sociopath. Afterward, maybe you wonder why. The sociopath gets up and walks out of the room and out of your life.

Later, picking up the pieces, you are sitting there, dazed, shaking your head. “What the Hell was that?” you are thinking. It’s like you just got hit by a Human Tornado that whirled into your life, trashed a lot of stuff, and then twisted off speedily into the sunset. You look outside, and it’s gone. You’ve been the victim of an emotional mugging, and you still can’t make sense of it.

There’s plenty on the Net about both sociopathy and narcissism and I have only barely scratched the surface here. Suffice to say that I feel that the sociopath is at the far end of the narcissistic scale. The sociopath is an ultra-narcissist.

They are so superior and above it all that they don't  even care anymore. They think you’re an idiot, and doesn’t care if you disagree. They will use you, abuse you, maybe even steal from you, assault you or kill you, but then they will sit down and eat a bowl of cereal like nothing else happened. That’s the ultimate in narcissism. You don’t exist as another human being to them. You’re a pure object, a tool, a means to an end. You may as well be a steering wheel or a hammer – that’s how much humanity you have to them.

The truth is that this is all just spectrum, probably emanating from extroversion at one end and moving through narcissism and all the way to psychopathy.

This entire spectrum is utterly the opposite of the introvert – fearful – neurotic type, but your average moron can’t figure that out. As a society, we think that shy introverts are “psycho”,  probably because we worship extroversion and despise introversion. Truth is the true, pure, classic introvert is the least harmful or dangerous person, the least likely to hurt an innocent person, on Earth.

True, they are not all wimps, and some will fight back against the abuse they are typically subjected to. But that’s not the same as the abusive aggression of the narcissist and sociopath that targets the innocent.
Why the introvert is generally so harmless is a fascinating subject, but I think I will leave it for another post to you.

I would also point out that most sociopaths are never arrested. These are the “controlled sociopaths” swarming all over the worlds of business, law, politics, law enforcement and the military. All of these professions provide outlets for controlled sociopaths to channel their antisocial and extremely aggressive behavior into. The  crooked businessperson, con artist,  ruthless lying and wheeling/dealing porno writers come to mind. 

One of the Past BS

Dear Past BS,


I know what type of character you are referring to.  I agree run away  from them as fast as you can.  You have said it all in your email to me.  Thanks